The Worlds' Finest
by Classic Cowboy
Summary: Cowritten w Jezrianna2.0. The Batman and KP: The Last crossover. A dimension hopping villain is wreaking havoc in Triton. To stop him, Ron and Kim are going to need the help of...Kim and Ron. On Hiatus
1. Chapter 1

_Kim Possible_ by Walt Disney Productions

_Superman_ and _Batman_ by DC Comics and Warner Brothers Entertainment

Classic Cowboy and Jezrianna 2.0 present ...

**Kim Possible: The Last**

**Ron Stoppable: The Batman**

**(S)The Worlds' Finest(-V-)**

Kim Possible, world-famous, red-headed superhero, flew south from Denver, Colorado. Her flight path paralleled Interstate 25, which lay below her, twin ribbons of shimmering white concrete against the brown landscape on either side. To Kim's right loomed the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, its snow-crowned peaks rearing majestically over the westernmost edge of the Great Plains.

Kim smiled. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, perfect for flying. Ahead of her, Kim spied a twin-engined passenger jet, also southbound. She veered toward the mountains to give the jet a wide berth. That made Kim's smile widen. Unlike anyone else on Earth, Kim didn't need an airplane to fly.

'This,' Kim thought, 'Is the best part of having been born on another planet.' She was Kryptonian by birth, having been rocketed to Earth by her biological parents Jor-El and Lara to escape her homeworld's cataclysmic destruction. Fate or fortune had seen Kim's ship touch down on the shores of Lake Middleton, where she had been found by James and Patricia Possible, who raised her as their own daughter.

Kim had grown up believing herself to be a human being, albeit a physically gifted one. Always a confident extrovert, not to mention stronger and more agile for her age than most of her friends, as Kim entered her teens she'd gone into the business of helping other people, and quickly earned a reputation of 'the girl who could do anything'.

As her adolescent years progressed, Kim began to realize that she wasn't, in fact, 'your basic, average girl'. When bullets started bouncing off her skin, and she discovered that she could bench-press cars, she'd confronted her parents, who had revealed her true origin. She'd been stunned, but ended up accepting the truth more quickly than she'd expected. A lot of that was due to the steadying influence of her life long best friend, Ron Stoppable. With his trademark goofy humor, he'd caused her to laugh away her fear and confusion.

Ron. Kim glanced over her shoulder. Half a mile behind and to the side flew the Team Possible jet, with Ron at the controls. He must have felt her gaze, for he turned and met her eyes, grinning from ear to ear.

Kim touched a control on the belt of her red and blue bodysuit, with attendant red boots and gloves.

"And just what are you so happy about, Mr. Stoppable?" she asked, a sub-vocalization microphone built into the collar of her top allowing her 'talk' without opening her mouth.

"That we'll be home into half an hour," Ron explained. Then, with exaggerated glee, "So. Many. Things to! Be happy! About!"

"Name three," Kim challenged.

"Easy," Ron sneered loftily. "In ascending order of importance: your Mom's pot roast, see Rufus, sleep with you."

"Nice to see you've got your priorities straight," Kim laughed.

Ron assumed a sly expression. "Well, those last two are a bit of a toss up..." he allowed theatrically.

Kim quirked an eyebrow at him, then rolled and banked until she was right alongside the jet, glaring at him through the side windows of the cockpit.

"That's it, mister!" she declared. "Whadda ya say we _race_ the rest of the way?"

"Usual bet?" Ron asked. Kim nodded. "Then I says 'yer on, little missy'!"

Kim gave a bare fanged grin and fell back until she was dead even with Ron. Ron's left hand grabbed the jet's throttles, his thumb hovering over the afterburner button.

"Three!" he called.

"Two!" Kim echoed.

_Beep beep_ _bee doop!_

"You are _so_ lucky," Kim mouthed at Ron, before saying, "Go, Wade!"

The broad face of Wade Load, Kim and Ron's long time friend and technical guru, appeared on a screen on the jet's instrument panel.

"Got a mission for you," Wade said simply.

"Such as?" Kim prompted.

"Have you ever heard of Alexander Luthor?" Wade asked.

"Lex Luthor? Sure," Kim answered. "He's a physicist, works at the government's High Energy Research complex in Upperton. My Dad went to college with him, and he visits us every now and then. Why?"

"Dr. Luthor is at your house right now," Wade explained. "Something he was working on was misused, and he wants you to take a crack at fixing the problem, if you're willing."

**(S)**

Kim swooped down into the broad expanse of the Possible household's back yard. The house she had grown up in had changed more than a little over the years. Not only was it home to her parents, the Drs. Possible, it was also home to herself and Ron, her fiancée and soon-to-be-husband, as well as her brother Jim, his wife, and their children. Two of those children, little James III and his younger sister Kimberly, ran to meet their aunt as her feet touched the ground.

"Auntie Kim, Auntie Kim," they cried, their words echoed by a chirping chorus of naked mole rats following hard on their heels.

Kim swept them into a hug and started to greet them when her words were drowned out by a thundering roar. Looking up, one and all saw Ron shifting the jet from conventional to VTOL mode as he guided it toward a touchdown on the roof of Team Possible Headquarters. The concrete monolith overlooking both the Possible home and Mole Rat Hill, as the great colony/warren complex was known, wasn't pretty, but it had been designed with function in mind, not form. As Global Justice HQ was the brain and central nervous system of the world's elite commando forces, Team Possible HQ was the center of the nascent but growing community of superheroes that had been cropping up since Kim had first 'gone public' with her true nature.

When Ron emerged from HQ, the greeting scene was played out again. Though he and Kim weren't yet formally married, Jimmy and Kimmie addressed him as 'Unka Ron'. Their naked mole rat playmates were equally enthusiastic. Ron was in his element, and Kim almost literally had to pry him away so they could go talk to Dr. Luthor.

Kim's parents were entertaining their guest in the living when Kim and Ron walked in. Guests, actually, as Wade was there as well, and in person.

"Ah, Kimmie, Ronald, you're back!" James Possible exclaimed, rising from his seat on one of the living room's comfortable couches. The man Kim recognized and remembered as Lex Luthor stood as well. He was a tall, lanky man, with bushy red eyebrows which were all that remained of his once luxuriant head of red hair. In his thirties, Luthor had begun to experience the effects of male pattern baldness, and rather than put up with a slowly receding hairline, had opted to shave his head. He'd been bald ever since. Bright blue eyes gleamed with intelligence as Luthor studied the new arrivals.

"Lex, you remember our daughter Kimberly, don't you?" James asked.

"Certainly, Jim," Luthor nodded, "Though it has been a few years." He gave Kim a frankly appraising look, then said, "You've grown."

"Getting older tends to do that to a person," Kim said sagely, and Luthor chuckled.

"Too true," he agreed, then turned to Ron. "And this would be Ron Stoppable." Though he had phrased it as question, Luthor's words were clearly a statement.

"You remembered my name," Ron said, awe touching his voice, "And we only met once, for like, a minute."

Luthor smiled. "I never forget a face. Or a name, Ronald Dean Stoppable."

Introductions out of the way, Ron and Kim found seats while Lex described his problem.

"For years now, I've been intrigued by the possibility that our universe isn't the only one that exists." At the blank looks on Kim and Ron's faces, Luthor expounded.

"Imagine," he said, "That you had two choices: go out for breakfast, or eat at home. Now suppose that, if you went out, while at the restaurant another patron began to choke. Because you are there, you manage to save his life." Luthor looked at Kim, Ron and Wade. "Now imagine that, at the instant you chose between those two courses of action, a new, separate universe was created, identical to our own except that in it, you took the other path."

"You're talking about alternate timelines," Kim threw in, and Luthor nodded.

"Naturally, there are as many potential timelines as there are options in a person's life, or rather, in the lives of everyone who has ever lived, everywhere."

"An infinite number, then," Patricia observed, and Luthor smiled at her. "Exactly, Patty."

"Naturally, there isn't much call for research into such things, so I've been pursuing this as a personal hobby. Eighteen months ago, I made a breakthrough, and devised a means to 'tune in on', if you will, the signature of any given reality."

"That's where this man comes in," Luthor said, producing a photograph. Kim studied the image. A non-descript fellow of middle age, black hair, dark eyes.

"His name is Francis Lehrman," Lex said. "He's an electro-mechanical engineer by training and a weapons designer by trade. We met at a conference in San Diego a couple of years ago, and he took an interest in my theories."

"I've been interested, nay even obsessed, with the idea of contacting, and then visiting, alternate timelines," Luthor admitted. "With Lehrman's help, I was able to build a device that allowed me to bridge the dimension span, and send a probe into a parallel timeline."

"I found a world quite similar to our own, not surprising, given the proximity of the two timelines."

James chose that moment to interrupt. "Proximity, Lex? What do you mean by that?"

"Well," Luthor said, rubbing his bald pate, "Basically, the more recently any given timeline diverged from our own, the 'closer' to us it is. I can't say for sure how 'far away' the timeline I found is, but it seems to have diverged some years previously. For example, what we know as the tri-cities of Upperton, Middleton, and Lowerton, Colorado, are known in this other world as 'Triton'. The limited data I've obtained suggest that Team Possible as we know it here does not exist there. Nor can I speak with certainty about your counterparts. One of my goals was to make contact with mine, but I couldn't find him."

"What are you getting at?" Kim asked bluntly.

Luthor took a deep breath. "It seems that Lehrman has used my device to send himself to that other world. For the last month, Triton has been subjected to a crime spree by gangs armed with weapons identical those designed in our world by Mr. Lehrman."

"You waited a MONTH to do something about his?" Ron erupted.

Lex chuckled. "Ron," he said patiently, "As I said, _Triton_ has suffered for a month. Lehrman used my machine early yesterday morning." 

Ron could only stare back in complete bafflement.

"Differential time flow," James guessed, and Luthor nodded.

"Overall," Luthor said, "Time flows evenly, but moment to moment, it doesn't. You send a probe over for an hour here, and a day may pass there. Or vice versa."

Luthor shook his head wearily. "I had taken some time off from the HERC to work on my little project, and Lehrman had come to help me. He was staying at my house, with free access to my personal lab. That was how he got to the machine. Yesterday morning, I woke up to discover he was gone. No note, no message, just gone. But his car was still in my driveway. I checked the lab, and discovered that the machine had been used, and that a large object had been sent to that other world."

"Fortunately I make a habit of documenting my activity when I'm in the lab, just in case anything should happen, good or bad. There are a number of video and sound recorders that turn on automatically whenever equipment there is activated."

"So you have video of Lehrman activating your machine and stepping into it?" Wade guessed.

"Precisely, Mr. Load," Luthor confirmed. "He had a great amount of baggage with him, either weapons, or at least plans for them, and who knows what else."

"And you want us," Kim said, gesturing between herself and Ron, "To go and get him back."

"Please," Luthor asked. "Innocent people are getting hurt, even dying over there, and it's my fault."

**(-V-) **

It was a typical Triton evening, meaning gun fire and police sirens echoed in the downtown area, this time surrounding the First Triton Bank. "What the heck kind of guns are those?" Chief Detective Kim Possible growled as she ducked on the opposite side of her partner's car as the bank. On the third floor of the bank, the windows were broken out as a gang made their stand, and a really good stand at that.

"Definitely not somethin' ya get from Smarty-Mart's sporting goods section!" Kim's partner Harvey Bullock said, checking the clip on his firearm. His eyes flashed when he heard the powerful shells going through the other side of his rusted out car. "HEY, I JUST WAXED THIS THING, YA JERKS!" he stood up and yelled before Kim pulled him back down behind cover.

"If we could get in there, we might be able to rush them, but those things have range and accuracy like I've never seen," Kim whispered, peeking over the hood. "Looks like twelve inside, at least twelve are shooting. Damn, if we could just get in closer!"

Another gunshot and a cop behind the car beside them fell down with a bleeding shoulder. "Back-up?" Bullock asked, reaching for the radio.

"Back-up." Kim nodded in agreement taking it from him. "Possible to Dispatch, Possible to Dispatch, we need back-up. Repeat: we need back-up!"

"Gordon to Possible," the Commissioner and Kim's late husband's father's voice came through the radio. "Hang tight, I'm calling back-up right now." Kim couldn't fight back the smile when a moment later a bat-shaped spotlight hit the sky.

"All officers, keep them distracted, back-up's on his way!" Kim yelled before firing her side arm into the building. "Ron, hurry your butt over here …" She whispered under her breath.

Five minutes of exchanging fire passed when smoke began to fall from the broken windows. "Think it's him?" Bullock asked when all incoming fire stopped.

"AH! PLEASE, GOD, HELP ME!" One of the gang members tried to jump from the third story window only to be grabbed by a black-clad muscular arm and jerked roughly back inside.

"I think so …" Kim smirked at her partner, "Cover me, I'm going in to help."

"Red, when has the Bat ever really needed help," Bullock asked.

"You'd be surprised, Harv!" Kim replied before ducking down and running into the bank.

Kim ran up the stairs to the third floor of the bank and barely missed the KO'ed thug fall across the floor past her. She looked inside and saw the most well-known and feared vigilante in Triton dancing around the heavily armed thugs like they were children. "Behind you!" Kim yelled as she ran up and did a jumping kick to the thug about to hit the Dark Knight from behind.

"I knew he was there," Batman growled as he ducked a thug's punch, caught his arm and pushed his gloved fist into the thug's ribs.

"You're welcome!" Kim said cheerfully before punching the thug she grabbed and slapping a pair of cuffs on his wrists.

It didn't take the two long at all to sweep up the surprised thugs and get the situation under control. The last conscious thug could easily be considered the least lucky. "Where did you get the guns?" Batman roared into the thug's face, slamming him against the wall that just barely gave to the impact.

"I … I'm not tellin'!" The thug replied, forcing all the bravery he had to the surface as he stared into the Dark Knight's pointy-eared cowl.

Batman pulled him back and slammed him even harder, cracking the wall slightly. "Where did you get the guns?" He roared, his face contorting in anger. "Answer!"

"A new guy… calls himself Frugal Lucre…" The thug answered weakly, only to yelp when it seemed to make Batman angrier.

"Frugal Lucre is in prison," Batman hissed, "Wrong answer. Try again!" He yelled before throwing the thug across the room, and stalking toward him with his wing-like cape wrapped around himself.

"I swear! That's what he calls himself!" The thug whimpered as the crotch of his pants dampened visibly.

"I want the truth, you waste of air," Batman growled, picking him up off his feet by the collar. "WHO got you these guns?"

"I'm tellin' the truth; I swear on my mama's grave, I'm tellin' the truth!" The thug begged before his eyes rolled back in his head and went limp in a dead faint.

"Damn," Batman growled dropping the limp body to the ground, before touching his belt. "Case 234: possible source turns out to be a dead end. But that seems to be the typical for this case. End log." He spoke before turning to Kim, who was staring at the thug.

"Do think he was telling the truth?" Kim asked, crouching down beside the thug, "Batman?" She asked again glancing up to find herself alone. She humphed before reading the unconscious thug his rights.

**(-V-) **

"Frugal Lucre, huh?" Commissioner James Gordon sighed as he sat back on his desk, "He couldn't have been telling the truth …"

"Maybe, but I was there; Batman put him through a tight ringer and he acted like he believed him." Kim replied, sitting on the edge of her former father-in-law's desk.

"He wasn't lying," a voice spoke from the shadows. Anyone else would have jumped or yelped but both Kim and Gordon had long adjusted to the Bat's quiet, ninja-like entrances and exits. "But it's not the 'Frugal Lucre' that's locked up in Colorado State Prison. He has been there since Team Possible put him there over eight years ago."

"Plus, that's really not Lucre's M.O.," Kim added, rubbing her chin, "I remember his idea of a grand evil plan was charge the world one dollar or else he'd wipe out the internet with an old can of sausages … and those snapping turtles."

"Any idea who it is then, Batman?" Gordon laced his fingers before his face as he leaned over his desk.

"Not yet, but I'm working on it," Batman said, dropping a folder on Gordon's desk. "That's everything I can work out on the weapons the bank robbers were using. There's no information on this type of weapon anywhere, black market or otherwise."

"Then where are those things coming from?" Kim asked, looking over the folders.

"We'll figure it out," Gordon patted Kim's shoulder. "As for you, your shift's almost up. Don't want to overwork you and get your very generous boyfriend to stop giving the department extra funding."

Kim cocked an eyebrow at Batman's smirk. "Yeah, I better go. That very generous boyfriend of mine is supposed to be keeping a close watch on my daughter." She said with an innocent grin toward the Bat. "I hate to think what would happen if I arrived and found that she's still up this late past her bedtime."

"Hey, Commish!" Bullock said storming into the office, with half of a donut in his mouth. "Press is here. They want to know what to put 'bout the bank robbery."

"Tell them I'm on my way, anything else, Batman?" Gordon asked as he and Kim turned to where the Batman was standing to only find the blinds of the window blowing. "I hate it when he does that …"

**(-V-)**

It took Kim around an hour to sign out and make her way to Stoppable Manor in the Upperton area of Triton. She stifled a yawn as she pulled the key Ron made her and entered into the large mansion. It still took her a moment to get her bearings in such a large house, but she still managed to make her way to the study and the old, stopped Grandfather clock on the far wall. She opened the case, pulled a lever hidden behind the clock face and watched as it slid to the left revealing a hidden stairway.

She made her way down into the dark, damp chamber. The large tank-like Batmobile was still missing. "Leave it to a pair of computer geeks to forget bedtime," She said as she saw the two men on either side of the large computer chair with some kind of videogame playing on the screen of Ron's super-computer.

Wade Lode and Felix Renton smiled sheepishly as Kim approached them. "Barbara, honey, time to go home."

"But, Mama, I'm 'bout to get a new high score!" a small voice whined from the chair.

"Don't 'but mama' me, young lady," Kim planted her fists on her hips as the roar of an engine echoed down the tunnel at the far end of the Cave.

She picked Barbara up from the chair as she weakly wiggled and complained sleepily. "Time to go home and get some sleep; don't worry, you'll get to come back and play later after I explain the concept of bedtime to Unka Ron, Unka Wade, and Unka Felix." She said as the Batmobile came to a stop on the large turntable across from the computer.

The cockpit of the attack vehicle opened and the Batman climbed out before sliding back his cowl to show the ruffled blond hair and brown freckles that always seemed to make Kim melt. "Hey, KP, I didn't think you'd beat me back …"

"Ah, I figured you didn't," Kim lifted her chin, fighting the urge to smile. "I'm upset with you, you know?"

"I'm sorry, KP," Ron Stoppable said, hopping off the Batmobile.

"You don't even know what I'm upset about," Kim couldn't fight the chuckle.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'm sorry 'bout it!" He said, flashing one of his trademark grins.

"You disappeared on me, twice, you could at least say goodbye once in a while," Kim pouted, holding the half asleep five year old on her hip.

"I'll make it up to you …" Ron put extra push into his smile.

"If Barbara had been in the room you made up for her and asleep at … what time is it now? three a.m., if she had been asleep by midnight, then I might have considered staying and letting you make it up, but too late, Mr. Stoppable. Night, guys," Kim said, walking toward the stairs. "Say goodnight, Barbara."

"Night-night," Barbara waved her tiny hand as her mother carried her up the stairs.

"So much for play, all that leaves is work then," Ron said, turning to the Wade and Felix. "Anything new on this so called Lucre and his weapons?" he asked in full Bat-mode.

"Not yet, it doesn't make sense. It's like they just popped in from another dimension." Wade said, going to the computer.

"When have the things we do ever made sense," Ron said, walking toward the two displays he had put up since Kim came in on the secret: two large glass cases with his and her old mission clothes. "I wonder …" Ron said looking at the reflection in the glass. "Nah, too sci-fi…"

**(-V-) To Be Continued (S)**

**AN: This fic takes place after the last chapter of _Kim Possible: The Last_ and Chapter 9 of _The Batman_**


	2. Chapter 2

World's Finest - Chapter 2

Immediate action was required. Everyone agreed on that, and the sooner the better. Every moment Lehrman remained at large in that other dimension was a moment in which more innocent victims might fall prey to the weapons he had unleashed there. Without further ado, Kim, her father, Ron, Wade, and Dr. Luthor had piled into Luthor's car for the drive to Upperton. Jim would follow as soon as he could with their equipment.

As he drove, Lex gave a brief description of his machine and how it operated.

"There's no easy way to explain it and still be technically accurate," Lex began apologetically, "So I'll have to resort to gross oversimplification." He took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully.

"Imagine a closed door between two rooms in your house, say, the living room and the kitchen. You want to go from the living room to the kitchen, so you open the door and step from one room into the other."

"Sounds easy," Kim commented, and Lex grinned wryly.

"_That_ part _is_ easy," Lex confirmed. "Simple movement through space and time. Nothing Isaac Newton couldn't handle. Now imagine my machine is the door, and when you step through it, you enter, not your own kitchen, but an alternate version of your kitchen in another dimension."

That didn't seem too difficult to Kim, and a quick glance showed that even Ron seemed to get it. Her father was frowning though, and his brow was furrowed in thought.

"Unfortunately, the energy required to create such a door is enormous," Lex continued. "And the requirement increases in proportion to the square of the cross-sectional area of said door. I rigged power systems that can provide the current we need, even for a portal large enough for two people. The problem is I can't maintain the necessary level of output much longer than it'll take you to step through."

"Meaning?" Kim asked, even though she had an idea what was coming.

"Meaning you'll be out of contact for the duration of your stay in the other world," Lex said somberly. "The power needed to send even a weak signal is greater than a conveniently portable device can accommodate."

"Question," Ron said, speaking for the first time since they'd gotten in the car. "How do we get back?"

"The same way my probes got back," Lex answered. "You'll each carry a high-powered, one-shot transmitter. I'll be listening for the signal it generates. When I detect it, I'll reopen the portal. Just make sure that you're nearby, since it won't last long."

Lex's home was in an older section of Upperton. It was a small, tidy looking house on a tree shaded lot. Behind the house loomed a metal shed somewhat bigger than the dwelling. Lex led them straight toward it. Once inside, they saw that the interior was a single, large room filled with electrical apparatus of various sorts along with computers and what looked like a complete machine shop in one corner. At the far end of the shed was a big toroidal structure festooned with wires and heavy cables. Racked nearby were a couple of machines that looked disturbingly like the Flying Hunter-Killers from the Terminator movies, although they were much smaller and had no obvious weapons besides a TV camera mounted in their noses.

"Whoa!" Kim, Ron, and Wade breathed as one as they took in the sights.

"Impressive, isn't it," Lex agreed, a touch smugly. "For a hobby lab, anyway," he amended with a touch more modesty. "I had to spend all that money they pay me at the HERC on _something_."

James was wandering into the heart of the shed, nodding absently as he went. "Very nice indeed, Lex," he agreed distractedly. Then, gathering his thoughts Kim's father pointed at the torus and said, "That's your...uh...what exactly do you call this gadget of yours, Lex?"

Lex's cheeks darkened briefly. "Actually, I haven't come up with a name for it, Jim. I thought about 'quantum shifter', but that's way too geeky. I tried a few other names as well, but none of them were any better, so I just call it The Gadget."

"That's as good a name as any, I suppose," James said with a grin. "Why don't you walk me through its operating principles?"

Lex nodded, then turned to Wade. "Mr. Load!"

"Yes, Dr. Luthor?" Wade responded at once. Lex was something of an idol of Wade's, and the thought of being given a task by the great man clearly had Wade excited.

"That computer," Lex said, pointing to a PC on a nearby counter, "contains all the data I've gathered on that other world." Lex paused and his expression became apologetic. "I'm afraid there isn't all that much. There's a limit to what you can do with autonomous drones," he explained, indicating the HK look-a-likes.

"Anything at all is better than nothing," Kim said cheerfully.

It turned out that Lex had been pessimistic. There were aerial photographs of the whole of the Triton area, which Wade quickly compiled into a rough map of the town and compared with a similar map of the Tri-City area, highlighting the differences.

There were also recordings of various radio and TV stations as well as the police radio network. One of the drones had even managed to image some newspaper headlines, either by looking down from altitude at pedestrians who were reading their copies or dropping down to look at the paper through the plastic window of the vending machine it was in.

Lex's attitude probably came from the fact that he wasn't a detective, Wade decided. He'd been forced to listen to the recordings in real time and try to pick out important details. Wade labored under no such burden. With Lex's permission, he'd hooked Lex's lab PC into the Team Possible network. Once the raw data was there, custom data sorting and mining programs took over. The programs were ones that Wade had either heavily modified to suit his needs or had outright written himself. As such, they closely followed his own thought processes. Within minutes, a preliminary report was coming up on the screen. Kim and Ron leaned in over Wade's shoulders to read it.

"I'll have it all downloaded into your Kimmunicators before you leave," Wade promised.

Twenty minutes, later Jim pulled up in the Team Possible van. By then, Wade had compiled a much more detailed report on Triton, though it was still woefully lacking in important details such as the fates and/or whereabouts of that world's Team Possible. One interesting tidbit was a repeated mention of a vigilante of some sort, someone known as Batman. As Kim and Ron prepared their gear, they discussed their plan of action.

"We should definitely try to contact our counterparts," Kim said, and Ron nodded. "Even if they aren't doing the 'Team Possible' thing anymore, they can probably help us out to some extent anyway."

"What about this Batman character?" Ron inquired. "Should we try to find him?"

Kim frowned. "I don't know. From that newspaper article, he sounds like some kind of psycho."

Ron shrugged. "You can't believe everything you see in the paper, KP."

"Tell you what," Kim said. "Once we get there we'll see what we can find out. If we hear good things, we'll see if we can find him."

"Sounds fair to me," Ron said with a grin.

Kim's father emerged from the lab building.

"Kimmie, Ronald," he called. "We're ready."

Kim watched as the torus crackled and hummed with electricity. Ron stood beside her, a touch of apprehension around his eyes. He was dressed in his mission togs with a long coat on over them and a ball cap on his head. Like Kim, he had a rucksack slung over one shoulder.

Kim wore civilian clothes over her own mission clothes. She and Ron wanted to keep a low profile, at least at first, and running around in a skintight bodysuit of blue, red and yellow made that kind of difficult.

"Sixty seconds," Lex announced. "Everyone ready?"

"Ready," Kim declared firmly.

"Ready," Ron echoed.

"Ready!" chirped the naked mole-rat who had poked his pink head out of one of Ron's pockets.

"Attaboy, Dex," Ron chuckled.

"Thirty seconds," Lex called. "The portal will drop you in the same physical location as my lab," he warned, "but in the other world that area is an alley in a warehouse district."

"Understood," Kim replied. The open center of the torus, where the portal would form, was starting to shimmer and ripple, like a mirage in the desert.

"Ten seconds." The shimmering intensified. A tiny spot of darkness appeared in the center of the ring. It grew steadily, revealing a nighttime scene beyond.

"Holy crap," Ron breathed softly. "It actually works!" Kim found herself agreeing with the sentiment. She felt a tightness in her stomach that she hadn't felt in a long while.

"Time!" Lex exclaimed. Linking hands, Kim and Ron stepped up and through the portal.

_**(-V-)**_

James Possible sat at his desk at Possible International Tower scribbling notes on a print design that the development department sent up, a part he really took a great deal of care in. Normally as CEO of the company, he merely approved or vetoed designs and plans but this was a different subject all together.

"How's it coming, Mr. Dr. P?" A voice called from the door way to his office, and he smiled up at the owner of the company. "Still working on the new protective vests for the police, huh?"

"I'm kind of working for you now, Ronald, so I think you could at least call me James," James said cheerfully as Ron walked into the office and sat in the seat across the desk from his girlfriend's father. "And yeah, I'm still trying to tweak it up so that cops like our Kimmie-cub will be safe."

"Our?" Ron asked with an innocent look.

"I'm not stupid, Ronald," James tried to look stern but couldn't fight the grin long. "You're all Kimmie talks about again, and let's not forget at least once a week, she spends the night at your place."

"We're kind of taking it easy this time though, neither one of us want to mess up what we have together," Ron sat back in the chair, "And we both have a great deal of baggage."

"Everyone has baggage of some kind, Ronald, it's part of being human," James laughed, "You've both gone down some rough road, it's only natural to be hesitant."

"If you say so, Mr. Dr. P," Ron said coming around the desk to look at the prints. "So what have we got?"

"Still not good enough, I'm going to send it back to development with notes to increase protection on the shoulders and upper arms if possible." Dr. Possible replied, scribbling some more notes on the prints.

"Good idea," Ron nodded, watching him work.

"So, coming with Kimmie and Barb tonight, Ronald?" Dr. Possible asked, glancing up at his daughter's boyfriend. "Kimmie said she was bringing her roommate and her daughter with them for dinner tonight, and you don't visit as much as Anne would like, so … it's pot roast too by the way."

"Pot roast?" Ron licked his lips, "Kim did mention dinner and said she'd like me to come, but she didn't say the magic P.R. words. Oh yeah, I'll be there Mr. Dr. … James," Ron corrected himself, "In the mean time, I have to make some arrangements, so see you around …"

"We're eating at six, so come around five after," James winked, "Give us time to get some before you eat it all."

"Will do, James," Ron waved as he walked out of the office.

"Kids," James shook his head, glancing down at one of the photos on his desk. It held suspended in time a little girl with red pigtails and a little blond headed boy with freckles.

**(-V-)**

The elevator came down slowly into what looked like a training hall deep below Triton's city streets. Francis Lehrman walked somewhat timidly down the torch lit hallway lined with exotic animal "trophies". He finally reached the end of the hall where a large computer network sat. On every screen was a different area of Triton, or a map or graph of some kind. "You called for me?" He asked to the back of the large chair facing away from him.

"Good evening my friend," the man facing away from the skinny man spoke in a menacing voice. "I was just curious on how our little operation was progressing."

"So far things are going well," Lehrman nodded, "Only problem was the advanced assault rifle was they seemed highly ineffective against the Batman."

"That was expected," the man replied, his one eyed, masked face reflecting slightly on a monitor. "The Batman is beyond the police in skill. He is our greatest challenge here, Francis. It will do you well to respect him, but do not fear him. He is powerful, but he is human. He has weaknesses. Everything has weaknesses."

"But …" Lehrman stammered slightly.

"If you are to become a power here, you must do as I say, Francis," the man said evenly. "You, who was trying to sell plans for some of the most powerful weapons designed on the black market at half their value, know nothing of organization in the underworld. Do as I say and you will go far. The Police will not stop you, and the Batman will not stop you."

"Yes, Sir …" Lehrman nodded.

"Do not be so fearful, they cannot track you," the man chuckled darkly, "To them, you are sitting contently watching sitcoms in the state prison. Follow my instructions and none will discover you. Or do you not wish to make money off what you brought with you from your world?"

"You're right. Thanks for all your help, Mr. Wilson," Lehrman smiled slightly.

"Keep me updated, Francis, now go back to work." The man waved him off before going back to observing the multiple monitors.

**(-V-)**

In the home of James and Anne Possible just outside the city limits of Middleton-Triton, the table for the first time in a long time was packed out.

James Possible as usual sat at the head of the table, on his left was his wife, Anne, and his granddaughter, Barbara. Beside Barbara were her best friend, Helena Flagg, and Helena's mother and Kim's roommate, Bonnie Rockwaller. On the other side of the table sat Jim and Tim Possible, beside Tim was his steady girlfriend, Alicia, and beside Alicia was the twins' elder sister, Kim. At the other end of the table sat Ron Stoppable.

'Burp!'

"Helena!" Kim scolded, glaring at the smirking six year old. "Bonnie, say something!"

'Burp!'

Kim's eye twitched slightly. "Mother of the year is all yours, B …"

"Kids will be kids, Kimmie," Anne waved off toward her daughter.

"That's not fair; you never let me, Ron, or even the tweebs act that way at the table!" Kim stopped mid rant to rub the bridge of her nose.

"Bonnie's a guest, and look how mature Barbara and Helena are for their ages," James added, nodding toward the innocently smiling little girls. This actually got a snort from Bonnie.

"I think we're just happy to have all our kids home again," Ann said smiling toward Ron and Kim especially. "With times like they are, a mother takes a great deal of pride in seeing her family gathered together and everyone safe and well and … happy." She added with a wink toward her eldest daughter.

"I can understand that," Kim blushed slightly.

"I have to ask though, Ronald," James asked, glancing up from his plate. "What exactly do you do with your spare time? You don't work, not that I'm aware of anyway. So what do you do now?"

Kim glanced at Ron, getting a panicky feeling. Did Ron want to tell his parents the truth about his nightly routine? She blinked in surprise when Ron smiled broadly. "Ah, just usual rich guy stuff," He shrugged sitting back showing complete physical relaxation. "I got myself every video game on the market and going to see how long it'll take to beat them, with Barbara's help of course," he winked to the youngest redhead at the table. "Then I've also been looking at learning a spot of golf. Other than that … ah, you know it is, Mr. Dr. P, driving fast cars, buying things that aren't for sale, walkin' the walk, talkin' the talk, that kinda thing … just being coo', ya know?"

"You'll never change, Ronald," James chuckled taking another bite, as everyone returned to the meal with the exception of Kim. She was stuck staring at the split-second flash of sadness that crossed Ron's eyes.

_**(S)**_

Kim looked around. There had been a moment of disorientation as they passed though the portal, but it was fading fast. Behind her, the last remnants of the portal were fading just as quickly. In mere moments it was gone with no trace it had ever existed.

"What a lovely place," Ron commented as he took in their surroundings. The alley was flanked on either side by dilapidated warehouses. A street lay in one direction, more warehouses in the other. It was damp and a little gloomy with small puddles glinting in the semi-darkness.

Ron looked up at the sky. There was heavy cloud cover, but there were patches of stars visible as well. "We must have arrived just after a rain shower," he speculated. Kim glanced off to the east a nodded in the affirmative.

"Yeah," she said, "I can see the front moving off to the east. Hear the thunder, too," she added. She gave Ron a look. "Can you sense our counterparts?"

Ron closed his eyes and concentrated for a few moments before shaking his head.

"I don't sense your counterpart at all, so she must not be in the city right now."

"And yours?"

"If he is, he's not close enough for me to pick him out of the crowd."

"Well," Kim said, "Let's get going." With that she turned and strode down the alley toward the street.

A phone booth's directory led Kim and Ron to their first truly unpleasant discovery. Kim's folks were listed, as was Kim herself. But there were no Stoppables. At all.

"Maybe they have an unlisted number," Ron joked, though he was plainly disturbed as well.

"I suppose that's possible," Kim allowed. "Or maybe your counterpart's parents took early retirement and moved to Florida."

"Yeah," Ron grinned. The grin faded. "This place has me on edge," he confessed. "Let's get busy, so I can get my mind off..."

Ron's voice trailed off in such a way as to put Kim on alert. She looked around. A dozen or so young men were closing in on them from all sides. They sported similar haircuts and wore identical jackets.

"Gang members?" Ron quipped, giving Kim a sideways glance.

"Oh yeah," Kim nodded, turning so she and Ron were standing back to back.

One of the hooligans, the leader presumably, stepped forward, a malicious grin on his face.

"Well, well, well," he snickered. "What have we here? A nice, young couple out for a romantic stroll?" He spoke loudly enough for his companions to hear him, and they joined in with gleeful cackles. "Too bad you picked a really bad part of town to go walking in," the leader added, his voice and face going cold.

Kim just smiled, and knew Ron was doing the same. "You have no idea who you're up against, do you, punk?" Kim asked, amusement coloring her voice.

The leader paused and took a good look at Kim. He wasn't the brightest bulb in the marquee, but he wasn't totally stupid either. It was plain that his would be victims showed no signs of being afraid, despite their peril. Kim could practically see the wheels turning in the leader's head. Finally, his eyes widened, as if the light of recognition had come on.

"You're Kim Possible!" he exclaimed. It was Kim's turn to be surprised. 'He recognizes me, and is _happy_ about it?'

The leader was practically dancing with joy. He scampered around to get a look at Ron, and went positively giddy.

"And Ron Stoppable! This just keeps getting better!"

Kim and Ron exchanged puzzled looks but didn't let their guards down.

"Don't hurt the rich boy too bad," the leader commanded. "And take Possible alive. We can ring a pretty ransom out of Stoppable in exchange for her safe return." He turned toward his gang, cocked his head at Kim and Ron and said, "Let's get 'em!"

**(S) To Be Continued (-V-)**


	3. Chapter 3

"You're back early," Wade said from the computer complex in the Cave.

"Dinner party's moving to Kim's," Ron said moving toward the Bat-suit rack. "I have to patrol."

"You wanna talk about it?" Wade said seeing right through Ron's disguise. "Tomorrow night I mean …"

"Tomorrow's just another day," Ron said pulling on his battle suit.

"Keep telling yourself that and you might actually start believing it." Wade said, leaning back in the computer chair.

"Have you found anything on the Lucre case?" Ron asked, pulling on the mask both literally and figuratively.

"Not yet, it's weird," Wade said turning back to the computer. "But I'm still digging."

"Good," Batman said as he opened the cockpit to the Batmobile. "Contact me when you do."

**(S)**

The dozen thugs charged almost as one. The ones approaching Kim seemed to hesitate a bit, or at least were being somewhat cautious. They split up into three groups of two and spread out, dividing her attention. It was an effective tactic, Kim knew, or would be against a normal human being who would have to spend a lot of time twisting and turning, trying to keep track of all of them.

Some of the thugs were armed with knives. Others carried lengths of chain or pieces of pipe. One carried a tire iron. None of them were carrying guns that Kim could see. One of the thugs, backed up by his partner, lunged at Kim, knife blade glittering in the light of the street lamps. Kim brushed his weapon arm aside and popped him on the chin with a perfectly controlled punch. Perfectly controlled because if she wasn't careful, she could easily kill him. For that very reason, Kim spent hours practicing her punches on a special impact gage her father had build. The thug went glassy eyed and staggered backwards, then fell on his backside.

The partner of the downed goon backed away, yet sported a broad grin. Kim felt something hit her in the back of the head and turned around to see another thug holding a length of pipe. There was a slight dent in the pipe, and a stunned look on the tough's face. Stepping forward, Kim grabbed the pipe, pulled it out of the thug's hands, and popped him as well.

One might think that having seen a third of their number go down in a few seconds would have discouraged the others, perhaps even made them consider breaking off their attack. Not these guys, which caused Kim to revise her estimate of their collective intelligence, already low, now down a couple more notches.

In a few more seconds, it was over, the dozen gang members lying stunned or unconscious on the street. Ron and Kim were tying them up when squealing tires and a roaring engine heralded the arrival of a police car.

Kim and Ron shared a glance. What to do now? Getting tangled up with the local cops could prove awkward, if not downright disastrous.

"Still," Ron murmured, "It's not like we can run away."

The police car, the words 'Triton Police Department' plainly visible on its sides, braked to a halt, and two uniformed officers got out.

One played his flashlight over the gang members lying in the gutters before raising it to the faces of the people standing over them.

"Lieutenant Possible!" he exclaimed.

Kim fought to keep from looking surprised. "Ummm, yes!" she responded.

"What happened here, ma'am?" the cop asked, gesturing at the thugs.

"Well," Kim stammered, "Ron and I were out for a walk and they, uh, attacked us."

At the mention of Ron's name, the cop shined his flashlight in Ron's face. "Whoa! Mr. Stoppable!" the cop breathed his tone almost reverentially. Then his expression turned serious.

"Ma'am," he said, addressing Kim, "You ought to know better than to go walking in a neighborhood like this, especially with that sort of company," he added, gesturing at Ron.

"Hey, I can take care of myself!" Kim snapped, and the cop cringed slightly.

"Sorry, ma'am," he apologized. Then, all business, "I'm gonna need a statement."

Kim groaned inwardly. Despite the fact that they were here to help the people of Triton, and might even end up enlisting the help of the local authorities, they really didn't have time for this stuff.

"Look, Officer, uh," Kim hesitated, reading the man's name tag, "Mooney. Ron and I just want to be on our way. Can't I give a statement, uh, tomorrow?"

Mooney gave Kim an odd look. "Are you all right, ma'am? Should I call for an ambulance?"

"No!" Kim exclaimed. "No, I'm fine, Mooney." Mooney didn't look convinced, and Kim was starting to feel desperate. In a whispered aside to Ron she said, "Help!"

Ron closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and said in a soft but firm voice, "You take it from here, Mooney."

"I'll take it from here, ma'am," Mooney said cheerfully.

"She can make a statement later."

"You can give your statement later," Mooney confided.

"Have a nice evening."

"You kids have a nice evening!" Mooney said in a cheerfully dismissive tone. Ron linked arms with Kim and led her away. As soon as they could, the two ducked around a corner and out of sight.

"That was weird," Kim observed.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "But at least we learned something from it - your counterpart here is a cop."

"I wonder why that is?" Kim asked. "Is she some sort of super cop? And if so, where is she?"

"I don't know," Ron admitted. "I still don't sense her, so..." He let the sentence trail off. "What do we do now?"

Kim frowned in thought. "Well," she said, "We at least have her address. Let's try that. Maybe someone there can tell us where she is."

"Sounds like a plan," Ron agreed. He was about to say something else when...

_Beep-beep bee doop!_

Reflexively, Kim and Ron reached for their Kimmunicators.

"Go, Wade!" Kim said.

**(-V-)**

The Batmobile spun around in a donut as Batman slammed on the brakes. Batman quickly changed the frequency on the communication relay. "Wade, are you there?"

_Yup, who was that? It sounded like Kim, but she hasn't used the old Kimmunicator frequency in years. _

"Where's the Kimmunicator now? Could that have been her?" Batman asked, narrowing his eyes.

_I just did a scan; it's in Kim's bedroom closet with the batteries taken out of it… _

"Something doesn't feel right," Batman growled, "Looks like I'm going to be showing up to the dinner party after all."

**(S)**

"What the hell was that?" Ron demanded.

"I have no idea," Kim admitted. "That sure looked like Wade, but why did he cut the signal?"

"This is a weird world," Ron said, somewhat plaintively.

"I hear you, lover," Kim agreed.

"Maybe your counterpart can explain what's going on," Ron suggested. "Let's go see her."

"Good idea," Kim said, turning her back to him. "Hop up."

Ron put his arms around Kim's neck and threw his legs over her arms piggy-back fashion. Once he was securely in place, Kim rose into the sky, taking the ultimate shortcut to their destination.

**(S)**

Kim stared at the warehouse apartment her counterpart lived in. She was there, along with a bunch of other people. Kim recognized 'her' parents and even, to her considerable surprise, 'Bonnie Rockwaller'. But there were others present as well. A man her father's age, with glasses and a moustache. And children. Three little girls, cute as buttons, who seemed to have the run of the place.

But no Ron. And now Kim understood why Ron had been unable to sense her counterpart. Microscopic vision showed that Kim's counterpart was human, not Kryptonian.

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," she murmured.

"I agree," Ron said softly, "But weird or not, she's our best shot at catching Lehrman. So let's do it."

Taking a deep breath, Kim walked up to the front door of the apartment and rang the bell. Sounds of movement inside heralded the twisting of the knob and the door swinging open.

"Yes..?" the green eyed redhead who answered said, her voice trailing off into stunned silence as she stared at something she never imagined she would ever see, even in her wildest dreams.

Herself.

"Barbara, honey?" the Kim inside the home asked staring into the other Kim's eyes.

"Yes, Mama?" a little redheaded girl bounced up to her mother's side.

"Has mommy been drinking tonight?"

**To Be Continued … **


	4. Chapter 4

**(-V-)**

"Barbara, honey?" Kim inside the home asked, staring into the other Kim's eyes.

"Yes, Mama?" a little redheaded girl asked as she bounced up to her mother's side.

"Has mommy been drinking tonight?" Kim asked staring at her other self with slowly glazing over eyes.

"No more than usual, Mama," the child answered happily.

"I assure you you're not ...drunk," the doppelganger Kim said slowly, her eyes moving back and forth between Kim and Barbara. Holding up her hands the double said, "I know this is going to be hard to believe, but I'm you, from another dimension."

"How do I know you're not clones?" Kim asked, narrowing her eyes. "I know Drakken and Shego are locked up, but I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have some clones or synthodrones put back for a rainy day."

The other Kim seemed to relax a bit. "You have a Drakken too, huh? Makes sense, I guess. But no. I'm neither a clone, nor a synthodrone." She glanced briefly at her companion, who looked exactly like Ron. "Neither is Ron."

"You'll understand if I'm a bit skeptical," Kim demurred. With a casual looking movement she turned slightly and changed the position of her right hand. Like all detectives she was armed on duty and off, a 9mm automatic nestled in a holster under her left arm. Given cause, she could draw and be ready to fire in an instant.

"Can't we just go inside and talk this over like reasonable adults?" the outside Kim asked with a genuine looking smile. Kim hesitated. She was suspicious, but at the same time there was something about this other Kim that seemed trustworthy. Maybe it was because she wasn't acting like Drakken's other synthodrones (with the exception of Eric, of course), who had always attacked on sight.

"Not until you prove to me you're not synthodrones or clones," Kim repeated firmly. "I have a family, and I'm not going to put them at risk."

"We understand," the other Ron said. He scratched his chin and frowned with comically intense thoughtfulness, looking so much like the Ron Kim had missed for so long that she almost laughed out loud. He looked up at her with a disarming grin. "I don't know how we can give you the proof you want, Ms. Possible," he said.

"There's no way we can prove that we're not clones," the other Kim agreed, "but I think we can prove we're not Dr. Drakken's Synthodrones though. Ron?"

"Gotcha, KP," the other Ron said. He raised an arm. As he did so his sleeve slipped down, revealing a bracer of greenish...was that _stone_?...around his wrist and lower forearm. The green material seemed to liquefy and flow up over his hand, consolidating itself into a long, wicked looking dagger. Kim's eyes widened. That was the Lotus Blade! It had to be! But how...? The other Ron's hand moved, and he winced as he poked his finger. "See?" he asked holding up his finger. "Real human blood. No clone fluids, no Syntho-goo, and I ain't melting."

"I've got one more test… Barbara honey, come here a second," Kim said, looking into the house.

"Hmm, Mama?" the little girl bounced back.

"Do you have Rufus on you, sweetie?" Kim asked squatting down to one knee.

"Uhuh, Mama, here," the little redhead said as she pulled the drowsy mole rat from her pocket.

Kim took Rufus gently, then held him out toward her doppelganger. "Check her out for me, who you, Rufus?"

Rufus yawned and stretched and looked at the person Kim was asking him to examine. He sniffed her. His eyes flew wide open and he took a good look at the person in front of him. Then he turned and looked at the person holding him. Much head turning and sniffing followed, with both Kim's looking on, one puzzled, the other fascinated.

"Is she a synthodrone, Rufus?" Kim finally asked.

Rufus shook his head, "Nope! No syntho-yuckie!"

"Is she a clone?"

Again Rufus shook his head in denial. Then he cocked his head and looked between the two Kims. "Uh … KP and KP … freaky …"

Rufus froze when another scent hit his nose and gave the other Ron a look that could kill. "Traitor!" he screeched.

"Huh?" the other Ron blinked, then realized what Rufus was talking about. "Oh, you probably smell Dex!" the other Ron said, lifting a naked mole rat from his pocket. "See, in our world you're a pop, Rufus, and this is one of your kids."

"Hi!" Dexter waved happily, before Rufus jumped from Kim's hands to Ron's to check the intruder out.

"Pop!" Dexter greeted, but Rufus just jumped to Barbara's head.

"Ohhh headache …" Rufus groaned as he scurried down into Barbara's pocket.

"Alright," Kim relented. "If nothing else, that convinced me. Let's go inside."

James Possible looked up as his daughter walked into the living room, his granddaughter Barbara on her heels. He almost turned back to resume his conversation with Jim Gordon when he noticed the odd look on Kim's face. She had gone to answer the door, and James had heard her talking with someone, but the conversation had been muted and he hadn't made any of it out. Little Barbara wore her usual happy expression, and as soon as she was back in the living room she peeled away from her mother to rejoin Helena and Dinah in the game they had been playing. So what had gotten into Kim? She didn't look upset, exactly, but...

Footsteps sounded in the hall behind Kim, heralding the arrival of two guests.

James Possible's coffee cup slipped from suddenly numb fingers, its contents splashing on the carpet as his eyes took in the sight of an exact duplicate of Kim, with Ron Stoppable in tow.

The other two adults present, Kim's mother Anne, and her father-in-law Jim Gordon, joined James in regarding the new arrivals in stunned silence.

"Mom, Dad, Jim, we've got company." Kim said quietly. "Allow me to introduce Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable." Kim felt a highly inappropriate giggle flutter at the back of her throat. What she had just said was so absurd that she was a bit surprised she had been able to say it with a straight face.

Kim could almost see her parents and Jim trying to process what they had just heard, as well as what they were seeing.

At that moment Bonnie walked in from the kitchen. She let out a yelp of surprise and stared wide eyed at the scene before her.

"Care to explain what's going on, Kimmie?" James managed finally, his eyes never leaving the other Kim's face.

"Well," Kim said bemusedly, "If we go by what they say, they're Ron and my counterparts from another dimension."

Jim Gordon and Anne Possible shared a glance, while James looked frankly skeptical.

"I'm sure they can explain everything," Kim added. Her counterpart nodded.

"That may take a while," the doppelganger warned.

"In that case," Kim mused, "I'd better put Barbara to bed." She looked at her daughter andher friends, who were curiously watching the proceedings. Bonnie, who had been standing as if frozen in place, shook herself out of her stupor and took her cue from Kim, bustling Helena and Dinah out of the room over their protests.

"Um … your daughter can stay if she wants," the other Kim said in an odd tone of voice as she looked at the little girl.

"Can I, Mama? Can I?" Barbara chipped excitedly.

"No, you're going straight to bed, it's already past your bedtime," Kim said firmly, planting her fists on her hips.

"Aw …" Barbara pouted.

"No aw's or but's," Kim declared before glancing to her doppelganger and her Ron. "You may as well make yourselves comfortable, while I get her off to bed."

Kim carried her daughter up to her room, and placed her in bed. "Sorry, munchkin, no time for a story tonight, I'll tell you two tomorrow to make up for it, okay?"

"'K … Mommy?" Barbara asked, looking up at her mother who nodded for her to continue. "Is that really another you and Uncle Ron down there?"

"Yes, I … think it is, from another place." Kim smiled softly.

"Is there another me? And …" Barbara bit her lip as if searching for the right words. "Is that other me Uncle Ron's daughter?"

"I don't know on either count, sweetie," Kim said kissing her forehead.

"One more question… think that other Ron is a Batman too?" Barbara asked as her eyes started to get heavy.

"I don't know, sweetie, but I intend to find out," Kim answered, smiling when she realized her five year old was already conked out.

Before leaving her daughter's bedroom Kim pulled out her cell. "Hey, Wade, is Ron patrolling? Can you patch me through? Ok …" Kim waited. "Hey, Ron something's … going on here … No, keep patrolling, I got it under control, I don't think it's anything I can't take care of … No, if I need you I'll 'call' you… You wouldn't believe me if I told you over the phone, baby …" Kim blushed scarlet, "Wade! Felix, get off the damned line!" Kim shook her head and sighed. "I'll contact you one way or another when I know something else. Bye, Ron, be careful …" She flipped down the phone and gave Barbara one last look before walking out of the bedroom.

**(S)**

"…Lets not freak her out anymore then we have to, Ron," Kim said in a barely audible aside. Sitting in the same room with people who looked just like her parents was a little unnerving. That they felt the same way, if the expressions on their faces were any indication, didn't do much to alleviate the awkwardness. "We'll just stick with the Team Possible thing for now." Ron answered with a barely perceptible nod. The other Kim walked down the stairs into the living area.

"Oh, hey, um … soundproof bedroom for the daughter, nice touch," Kim offered, her cheekbones heating as she recognized just how lame the her words sounded.

"How'd you know?" the other Kim asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Kim realized her mistake immediately and floundered to cover it up.

"Oh … uh …um … well, Mom soundproofed my walls, and I figure she did the same for you and, um, you kept the tradition!"

"Right …" the Kim of this world took a seat, her eyes on Ron. She seemed to be checking him out. Kim wondered what to make of that. She seemed to have a Ron of her own, so what was the deal? Did they look different? Her thoughts were cut off by the other Kim speaking.

"Anything to drink? Beer, soda, Cocomoo?"

"I don't drink hard drinks," Kim declined politely. "Diet cola for me, if you have it, and Ron's hooked on Cocomoo," she smiled, patting Ron's knee.

"So we're not exactly the same after all," the other Kim murmured, turning toward the kitchen.

"If you only knew …" Kim thought. "This was a bad idea Ron," she whispered, lacing her fingers with her fiancé's.

"You think you're nervous," Ron frowned, his own voice quiet. "It's like I'm not even here. No phone number. Not even a picture on this KP's walls."

"We'll ask," Kim resolved, "when the time is right."

"Cocomoo, diet cola, and one Bud Lite," this world's Kim replied as she set a tray on the coffee table in front of the couch. She took her beer and sat down on the couch. "You may not drink the hard stuff, but after this I have a feeling I'll be needing."

"Alright, start talking," the other Kim said, sitting back and drumming her fingers on the unopened beer can.

**(-V-)**

"Ok … I'll keep this as simple as I can," the doppelganger Kim said, leaning forward after taking a big swig from her soda. "Like I told Kim here," she began, gesturing at Kim, "We're from another dimension. Why are we here? A scientist in our world named Lex Luthor discovered the existence of parallel realities, and then the means to travel between them. This world is the first one he found, since it is, as he puts it, 'close' to our own. Unfortunately, a criminal from our world gained access to Dr. Luthor's device and used it to come to this world. His name is Francis Lehrman. He's a weapons designer, and we believe he brought both weapons and weapon designs with him. It's our belief that he's trying to make money by becoming a powerhouse in this world's underworld. He probably thinks because he's from another world he can pin everything on this world's version of him and then escape back to ours once he's gathered a fortune in blood money."

"Frugal Lucre!" Kim and Jim Gordon exclaimed as one.

"I'm sorry, who?" the other Kim asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Frugal Lucre," Kim repeated, a bit surprised at her counterpart's lack of recognition. "You know, Francis Lehrman, Smarty-Mart clerk and computer wizard, tried to blackmail the world with an internet virus?"

The other Kim and Ron shared a blank look, then shrugged as one. "Never heard of him," the other Ron confessed.

"I took him down when I was sixteen," Kim related. "I guess your Francis Lehrman turned out differently. Anyway, my..._our_ Francis Lehrman is still locked up for his little escapade. But lately someone using the same name has been selling advanced weapons here in Triton. We couldn't figure it out at first. We were leaning toward someone using the Frugal Lucre name to hide his real identity, but..." Kim's voice trailed off as she processed the idea.

"It makes so much sense now," she muttered. "It's freaky … but it makes sense."

"That's why we looked you up," the other world's Kim spoke up. "We thought we could team up with this world's Team Possible and take him down!"

"…"

**(S)**

"Um … what's wrong?" Ron asked. Even though the woman opposite him wasn't 'His KP' his Kim-sense went on high alert.

"I don't do the Team Possible hero thing anymore …" the other Kim said, popping open her beer and taking a big swig.

"Why not?" Kim asked in shock, unable to fathom any thing that could stop her from being a world level hero.

"Getting drugged and raped by a gang of thugs will have that effect on you," the other Kim said, taking another big gulp of beer.

"R-Ron," Kim breathed, squeezing Ron's hand so tightly he squeaked from the pain of it. The armrest of the couch wasn't so lucky, splintering beneath her fingers. Somehow, fortunately, none of the others paid any attention. In a way it was understandable, if the looks on the faces of the other Kim's parents were any indication. "Where was Ron … your Ron … when this happened?" Kim demanded.

"In Japan … or on the way to Japan …" Kim glanced away from them. "Depends really … not sure if I can trust _Yori's_ words or not …" she said, spitting out the name.

"Let's … how about let's start at the beginning?" Ron gulped loudly, while making a mental note not to mention his own Yori.

"Fair enough …" the police detective nodded, "It all started with the night after graduation. That's when our world kind of got flipped upside down …" Detective Kim smiled sadly. "Ron's parents took him to see a movie to celebrate. He invited me, since we had been going steady since Junior Prom, but I was going out with my own family. To this day I wish I had ditched my fam and went with him … maybe I could have stopped it … coulda woulda shoulda …"

"Go on," Kim pressed, trying to ignore the cold tendril of dread flickering in her stomach.

"They came out of the theater, Ron being as goofy about as ever, he had a right… Nakashima had agreed to let him be the American rep for the Bueno Nacho Corporation after he graduated. Can't forget the Naco Royalties … Ron didn't even really have to go to college or work, he was rich and so very happy …" she continued, taking a break to breathe out a shaking breath. "Then … a gang approached Ron and his family at their car. They wanted it … crime and car robbery had been going up steadily at the time and … well … Mr. Stoppable was willing to give it to him … no fight … his family was more important then a stupid car … but Ron was a hero … which was my fault."

Kim and Ron nodded silently.

"Anyway, Ron tried to fight them off, like we did together so many times… but while he was fighting one of them pulled a gun on his parents… The gang didn't get the car, and most of them got away while Ron held his dieing parents in his arms."

Kim covered her mouth with her free hand while clinging to Ron's hand for dear life.

"It really messed Ron up," the other Kim went on. "He moved in with us, and I tried to comfort him as best I could. But he was so angry and hurt … I didn't really know what to do. Then when his parents' killer got off with a slap on the wrist … that was the breaking point for him. So many emotions rocked Ron that he hardly knew which way to go. I forgot about inhibitions the night after the trial … I went all out to comfort and love him … mind, body and soul …"

"I don't blame him for what happened next, I've heard his side of the story and I can understand why he did what he did …" the detective nodded firmly toward the wide brown eyes staring back at her. "He left the night we made love … and his parents' killer was found dead the next morning with a bullet from my father's gun. I'm still not sure if Ron did it or someone else … don't know if I'll ever know … but Ron … he traveled the world after that … searching for his center again."

"After that … well life goes on, I got in over my head and was… attacked by a gang working for Rupert Thorne, and was sent to live with Nana in Florida while I recovered," Kim continued hastily. "I came back a year … almost two years later and entered the police force. I still wanted to do good but … this isn't a world of heroes anymore … or at least it wasn't then…" she said with a strange smile.

"Anyway, while on the police force I met a nice guy, fell in love with him, got married and we had a beautiful baby girl whom you met." She nodded toward the second floor bedroom.

"What happened to your husband?" Kim asked more out of curiosity then anything.

"Shawn was a good cop, but was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was killed in the line of duty … around three years ago," Kim took another swig of beer, "Been me, Barbara and Rufus ever since, at least till Ron came home."

Ron narrowed his eyes, reading the confused emotions behind the words, but nodded with his fiancé.

"Ron was gone for seven years, no words, heck, I think Wade had him declared dead … then he showed up, his naco royalties had compounded to the point he was just under Oprah and Bill Gates in being rich. He knew he made a mistake in leaving; believe me I made SURE he knew that, but he's been doing his best since he came back to make up for his mistakes. Almost a bit too much … He bought out Thorne's company, renamed it after my family and named Daddy the CEO. Helped me get back on my feet financially, Barbara never wants for anything anymore … and he's … he … he does a lot of good for the town," the other Kim finished awkwardly. "I've decided to give him another chance, and so far he's been doing well with it… for a moody jerk."

"Dang …" Ron sat back rubbing his face.

"This world is a lot different then ours, more so than we thought," Kim breathed staring at her soda.

"I'm glad you two have had better lives then we've had," Kim said softly, even as she reached down to stop the recorder in her pocket. She turned to her father-in-law.

"What do you think, Jim? Do we help them out?"

Jim Gordon nodded slowly. "I think that might not be a bad idea, Kim," he said to her. Then to the other Kim and Ron: "The police will give you our full support with catching Lucre but … There is someone who can help you guys out … probably even better than us cops."

"Who?" the other Kim asked.

"I'll introduce you if you're up for a ride to Police HQ," Kim smiled slyly.

**(-V-)**

"So …" the other Ron said as Kim led him and his Kim to the roof of Police Headquarters. They had taken a back way to avoid being seen if at all possible. The other Kim had suggested that as long as Lehrman, or Lucre, or whatever they wanted to call him, didn't know that Team Possible was following him, they would have an advantage. It seemed reasonable to Kim, so she didn't argue. "This guy works on the roof. He like a sniper or something?"

"No, he never kills," Kim corrected, looking back at the two before walking toward a searchlight covered in a tarp. She pulled the tarp off the light and placed a key in the control board. "This is just how we call him."

"I hope you don't mind but I recorded our conversation, so you don't have to repeat it to him here," Kim added, listening as the light's circuits warmed up. "He's usually in a bit of a hurry," she said as the light came on, projecting the bat-signal high onto the overhanging clouds.

"Batman?" the other Kim asked blinking in surprise. "He helps the police?"

"You've heard of him?" Kim asked, surprised.

"Sort of," the other Kim allowed. "We know he exists, from some newspaper headlines Dr. Luthor saw, but that's about it. Although we were going to try and make contact with him if we couldn't find you."

"I see," Kim nodded. "In answer to the second half of your question, yes, on occasion he does help us." Kim paused. "He … does a lot of good for the town," she added with a strange little smile.

The minutes ticked by, five becoming ten and nearing fifteen. The other Kim shifted as if she was about to speak, when...

"You called, Detective," a gruff voice spoke from the shadows, directly behind the three, making the two members of Team Possible jump slightly. They all turned to see a man with a pointy eared cowl-mask stepping out of the shadows with his jagged bat-wing like cape wrapped around his body. He gave no sign that he even noticed that the other Kim and Ron were present, besides perhaps a quick, barely noticeable widening of his eyes.

**(-V-)**

"Mr. Stoppable," the Bat's growling voice spoke for Ron, masking his surprise and confusion as he stared at his own doppelganger. "And Detective, I didn't know you had a twin sister."

Kim snorted in reply before approaching the Dark Knight. "I found out why Lucre can be in the State Pen _and_ controlling the crime here at the same time," she said drawing his curious yet brooding face to her. "I know it'll sound strange but I've dealt with weirder things in my teen years, and I know you seen weird stuff too … but in a nut shell, he's not from this world. And this Team Possible has come from their world to bring him back and to justice."

"Oh, really?" Batman challenged. He glanced at the Kim of his world before returning his gaze to the others.

"Really," the other Kim said flatly. She met his gaze with a cool, level stare of her own.

"I, uh, recorded the conversation I had where they gave the details on what he's doing here and how." Kim interjected, handing Batman her tape recorder.

The other Kim's lips quirked into a faintly amused expression. She certainly didn't seem surprised by the revelation, and Batman made a mental note of the fact.

"And in case that's not enough, 'Batman'," the other Kim said, "I have more data on him here, plus a description by Dr. Luthor about how his dimension bridge works." She produced a device that Batman recognized as a near duplicate of the Kimmunicators he and Kim had once carried, all those years ago. The other Kim touched a control and a tiny hatch popped open. She pulled out a memory stick and held it out. Batman reached out slowly and took the stick, tucking it into a pouch on his utility belt. The other Kim kept her eyes locked on him, and Batman found himself in the unusual position of feeling...exposed. It was almost as if the events of the last seven years hadn't happened, and he was back to being KP's sidekick. He gave himself a mental shake. Apparently this Kim had never had her spirit broken the way his had. She was still tough, strong, invincible...

He considered his own double. Just as with the other Kim, for all the similarities, there were slight, subtle differences. He was fit and lean, and moved with the silent grace of a ninja. He appeared to be totally relaxed, but his eyes never stopped moving, constantly scanning his surroundings. Batman felt a twinge of amusement. In that regard at least they were quite alike. The difference was that the other Ron wore an unfeigned grin that bordered on goofy, and his eyes sparkled with merriment.

"And Batman …" Kim said, distracting him, flashing her eyes for a moment, "I don't have any solid proof to back it up, but … you can trust them."

"I'll go over this and we'll see," Batman grunted. "Will they be staying with you, Detective?"

Kim glanced at her other self and the other's Ron. Her double seemed surprised by the question. "Well … we hadn't really thought about it … I mean we hoped you would help us out … or at least help us find a good hotel."

"I've got a guest room in my apartment," Kim offered, "It's just one bed so …"

"They're lovers and engaged, so it shouldn't be a problem," Batman stated not even glancing at the pair.

"What? How'd you know?" the other Kim blanched.

"You're standing very close together, showing a very high level of comfort without any signs of embarrassment, which leads one to believe you are lovers," Batman stated, staring coldly at the pair. "Also the diamond ring on your finger is a classic symbol of engagement of marriage, the letters RS and KP obviously stand for Ron Stoppable and Kim Possible, as well as the symbols on the sides: one is the symbol of Yamanouchi, while the other symbol I'm unfamiliar with."

Kim glanced down to the engagement ring her Ron had given her and that this Batman character had just described in detail, down to the initials on the side and the symbol of the Yamanouchi School and the symbol of her Kryptonian family. "Wow … good eye …"

"I'll be getting back to you, Detective." The Bat turned to the ledge of the roof and leapt off.

"Whoa!" the other Ron gasped running to the edge and looking down, only to find no trace of the Batman at all. "How'd … he do that?"

"Wondered that myself …" Kim nodded, before stretching, "Well … that's all we can do for the night. Let's go home."

**(S)**

Back at the other Kim's apartment, Kim and Ron retired to the room she made available to them. The ride back from police headquarters had been an interesting one. The first thing the other Kim had said when they got in her car was, "Yamanouchi?" She had tried to sound indifferent, but Ron had noticed the edge in her voice.

"Yeah," he'd admitted. "Apparently ours is a bit different than yours, big surprise. I go back there every summer for a few weeks to continue my training. Kim usually comes along. We kinda make a vacation out of it."

"Does your world have a Yori?" the other Kim probed.

"Again, yes. Ours is a good friend and ally. She's going to be one of Kim's bridesmaids next summer."

The other Kim hadn't said much after that.

"I want to have a good, long talk with my counterpart," Ron commented as he got into the bed.

"About what?" Kim asked as she brushed her hair. She had already changed into her sleeping attire: panties and one of Ron's old shirts for a nightgown.

"Leaving the way he did. I mean, sure, his parents were murdered, but running from your problems never did any good."

Ron paused, frowning thoughtfully. Then he gave a kind of snorting laugh. "I don't believe I just said that," he chuckled. "I used to run from my problems all the time."

"You grew up," Kim noted.

"From what this world's Kim says, he did too, just a bit later. I still want to talk to him, though."

Kim shrugged noncommittally, and slid into bed next to Ron, snuggling up against him.

"You totally know your counterpart is Batman, right?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Ron answered.

**(-V-)**

The Tumbler rolled to a halt in the Batcave and Ron climbed out of it, deep in thought.

"Hey, Ron," Wade called from the computer station. "I've been working on that comm glitch and I think..."

"...that it was a Kim from another dimension using her Kimmunicator to answer your call?" Ron offered.

Wade blinked. "What the heck are you talking about, Ron?"

For answer, Ron dipped into his utility belt and produced a memory stick. "This should answer all your questions."

**-$-**

Francis Lehrman looked up from the gun he was assembling. Unlike any of the others he'd made since coming to this new world, this was a new design. Well, not really. The plans had been finalized for some time. This was the first time, however, that any components had ever been made. So the gun was a prototype, even though Lehrman was confident it would work properly. He glanced at his surroundings. It was amazing, really, how much he'd accomplished in such a short time. True, advanced planning had figured into things, but he'd essentially set up a brand new weapons factory and started cranking out product in less than two months. Now he was ready to start introducing even better designs, despite the fact that his run-of-the-mill gear was still flying off the shelves.

Lehrman snorted. Back home he was just another weapons designer, nothing special at all. Here, he was like a god, handing out personal scale weapons that were two, even three generations ahead of anything these yahoos had seen. Of course, he was a god that lacked business acumen. He'd been woefully under pricing his ordnance, at least according to his new business partner.

Lehrman shuddered. Slade Wilson gave him the creeps. On all accounts the man was an ordinary mercenary, but there was something about him that set Lehrman's teeth on edge. Still, creepy or not, Slade knew the ins and outs of the Triton underworld. And he wasn't greedy, taking a mere fifteen percent for his cut of their sales. Of course, that probably meant he had his own agenda, but Lehrman didn't care. He'd happily leave Slade the means to keep making advanced weaponry, might even arrange to send new designs from time to time. And Slade seemed to know that. He'd served as Lehrman's front man in consolidating Lehrman's money from cash to other, more portable assets like gold, platinum, and diamonds.

The only thing that bothered Lehrman was Batman. Slade seemed confident that Batman would pose no obstacle, but Lehrman wasn't sure. He hadn't mentioned the Kim Possible of his world, but the mere fact that a costumed vigilante roamed Triton was enough to make him nervous.

Lehrman took a breath. It might not be necessary, but plans needed to be made. Plans for dealing with Batman and, if need be, this world's Kim Possible.


	5. Chapter 5

**(S)**

Kim moaned as she slowly woke to the sound of her fiancé snoring softly beside her. As she came fully awake, Kim was briefly confused by her surroundings. When she remembered that she was in the guest bedroom of her counterpart in another dimension, Kim had to stifle a giggle. The very notion was so absurd that she briefly wondered if she wasn't really still asleep in her own bed and just having an incredibly surreal dream. Beside her, Ron shifted slightly and made a soft, grumbling sound. He must have been on the verge of waking up as well. Kim gave him a fond look. Ron had a small, satisfied smile on his face. Kim made a mental note to give his parents a really big hug when they got home. She silently eased out of bed and went to her things to pick out an outfit for the day. The weather today was supposed to be sunny but somewhat cool. That suited Kim just fine, since she wouldn't have to explain long pants and a long sleeved shirt. That in turn meant she could wear her mission togs under innocuous civvies, instead of carrying them in her backpack and having to don them in the field if such became necessary. Moving quickly, Kim donned the famous blue and red uniform with its yellow highlights, then pulled jeans and a flannel shirt on over top of it.

"So when are we going to tell the other us 'bout you?" Ron's voice asked, causing Kim to start in surprise.

"Ron, I hope I didn't wake you …" Kim said sheepishly.

"It was time to get up anyway, so it's cool," he assured her. Then he gave her a frank look and repeated his question. "So, when are we going to them?" Not waiting for Kim to answer, Ron sat up in bed and started stretching.

"When they fess up on their Ron's flying rodent obsession," Kim declared. "Unless they need to find out sooner," she allowed. "But for now let's keep it under wraps. As long as Lehrman doesn't know we're here, we'll have an advantage. Let's not throw that away too soon."

Ron nodded once in understanding and went back to his bed-bound stretching.

"Wakey-wakey!" Bonnie's voice sounded as a pounding on the door to their room echoed. "Hands off Ronnie's snakey, Kimmie!"

"At least one thing's still the same," Kim said, her voice tinged with irony. "Bonnie's as shameless here as she is in our world." She smiled before turning to the door. "It's unlocked and neither of us are naked," Kim called. The door opened to Bonnie's disappointed face.

"You are … dang it." Bonnie pouted before opening the door the rest of the way and walking in followed by the three children. "Morning!" she said in a sing-song voice as the three girls parroted her.

"Morning, Bon-Bon," Ron waved before a feisty redhead jumped up onto the bed straddled his lap. "You even got Unka Ron's morning bed-hair."

"You must be Barbara, right?" Ron asked, smiling at the little girl.

"And you're the other world's Ron, and that's the other world's Mama." Barbara said pointing to Kim, who was leaning against the wall, watching the two. "Is there another me in your world?"

"Sorry, kiddo," Ron smiled sadly, "You're a one and only. For the time being, anyway," he amended at the disappointed look on Barbara's face.

"That means you never left your version of Mama, did you? You never stopped being together?" she asked, her green eyes sparkling hopefully, and pushing Ron's disappointment in his other self that much higher.

"That's right, I didn't, and I don't plan on leaving her if I can help it," Ron smiled, glancing at his fiancé.

"Even if it would help her?"

"Huh?" Ron and Kim looked at each other perplexed.

"It made Mama sad when Unka Ron left, even sadder when she lost my big sister before she was even born," Barbara stated solemnly. "She doesn't know I know, but that doesn't matter. Even though it hurt, Unka Ron left so he could learn to make things better again, and since he's come back, he's made a lot of things better."

"Maybe you're right, kiddo …but I don't think that'll be a problem for us." Ron said, unsure what to say. "That sounded really smart for a little kid."

"No big, my grandpa is a rocket scientist, my grandma is a brain surgeon, and my mama is a police detective," the little girl shrugged in a very Kim-like manner. "It's all genetic."

"I'm seeing visions of the future, KP," Ron laughed as he hugged the little girl.

"And who said anything about us having a little girl?" Kim retorted, a sly smile on her face.

"Ah-so! You two are expecting then, huh; that's that big secret you two are hiding, huh?" Bonnie accused, pointing her fingers at the pair.

"No, we're just engaged, that's all," Kim said, flashing her diamond ring. "Though," she added demurely, "it doesn't hurt to plan for the future."

"Holy crap, that's a nice rock; you can't even see where the Titanic hit it." Bonnie said, staring at the ring, "You got a good hunk of change like our Stoppable, huh?" she said to Ron.

"I've got a little put back," Ron shrugged bashfully.

"Only because you let your father manage your money," Kim reminded him. "Otherwise, you'd spend it all on grandé sized chimerrito combos," she teased gently.

"Would not!" Ron denied firmly. "I'd spend _some_ on nacos, thank you very much!"

At that moment, Dexter, who had begun to rouse from sleep at the mention of two of his favorite foods, emerged from the small bed Ron had brought along for him.

"Naco, chimerrito, breakfast!" he chirped enthusiastically. Barbara and her friends squealed with delight at the sight of him.

"We'll feed you, Dexter," Barbara exclaimed. "Do you like cheese?"

"Cheese!" Dexter echoed, a huge grin on his tiny face.

"Come on then!" Barbara urged, and the four of them swept out of the room like a miniature tornado.

Bonnie watched them go, not quite able to keep herself from smiling, then returned her gaze to the other Kim and Ron, who were sharing 'A Look'.

"Before you two get into a knock down drag out, I thought I'd tell you breakfast is ready on the table," Bonnie said, shaking her head at playfully silly expressions on Kim's and Ron's face. There was only so much sappiness she could stand in one day, and it was too early for such things. "Ron, our Ron, fixed it before he and Kim left this morning."

"Ron was here last night?" Kim asked, blinking in surprise.

"He usually sneaks in for a booty call every few nights," Bonnie shrugged, "though, since we weren't awoken by Kim's wails of passion they probably just cuddled."

"Oh really …" Ron observed slyly.

"Whatever," Bonnie waved him off. "I'm going to drop the kids off at Anne's, and then I'm going to work. You two can do whatever you want, but if you touch any of my stuff … this cat has very sharp claws."

"Where'd Kim and Ron go?" Kim asked curiously.

"They told me not to tell you …" Bonnie said, biting her lower lip. A moment later, she broke into a grin. "So, of course, I'll tell you!"

**(-V-)**

Detective Kim Possible felt like she was looking in a window to the past. Since his return, Ron Stoppable had been a rock, wholly dedicated to his Mission. Watching him as he stood beside her in the parking lot of the old, closed down Middleton Movie Theater, she decided she hadn't seen him this vulnerable looking since the night she and her parents brought him home from the police station.

Ron was dressed in a long dark trench coat and sunglasses, in his hand were two red roses.

Ron went down to one knee and placed a rose on the very spots his parents fell. The two stood a long while in respectful silence before Ron finally spoke. "My dad's last words to me were that he was proud of me. I wonder if he still is?"

"You've made mistakes, but you're only human," Kim said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're doing, and you've done, what you felt you had to do."

"They're here." Ron said standing up and turning toward the shadows.

"You can come on out; we've been expecting you," Kim smiled as their doppelgangers walked out toward them.

Detective Kim glanced at her Ron and then at the Ron of this world, wondering if she could see the difference as easily as Kim did. Both Rons were well built, though her Ron was a bit bigger, probably a result of more free weight training than the other Ron indulged in. But what Kim noticed most were their faces. Her Ron's face was almost exactly the same as the other Ron's, except there was no goofy smile, and the laughter and child-like wonder in the other's eyes was replaced by a cold sadness.

**(S)**

"You knew Bonnie wouldn't be able to keep a secret, didn't you?" Kim guessed, and the Kim of this world nodded. "She also told us why this day is important to you, Ron," she went on, speaking to this world's version of the man she loved. "Please accept our condolences."

The Ron of this world inclined his head slightly. "Thank you," he said in a quiet voice. Looking up, he spoke again in a much firmer voice. "When Kim first told me about you guys, I was a little skeptical," he said, smiling faintly.

"She was, too," the other world Kim related with a grin. "We were more than a little surprised ourselves when we found out what had happened."

"I can imagine," the Ron of this world agreed. "I understand from my Kim that you guys are here to find a villain that fled your world?"

"That's right," Kim confirmed, working hard to act like she was unaware that the Ron facing her already knew all of this. It was a bit irritating to have to go through all this playacting when her aggressive nature wanted to spill the beans and get right to the point. "We're anxious to get on with our search, as you can understand, but we haven't the faintest notion where to start looking. We're hoping you can help us, even though you and your Kim don't do the 'Team Possible' thing anymore."

"I'll certainly help in any way I can," the other Ron promised, "although I don't know how much use I'll be," he added a touch self-deprecatingly. "You don't find many hardened criminals in corporate board rooms, after all."

"Well, the sooner we get started..." Kim began, but the Ron of this world cut her off with a raised hand.

"I understand your sense of urgency, Kim," he said, "but the criminals of Triton are mostly active at night. That, and I'd like some time alone with my counterpart," he added, giving his opposite number a somewhat cryptic look.

Kim and Ron shared a look, then Kim shrugged. "I guess that won't hurt."

The other Kim stepped up and took her arm. "C'mon, Kim, let's take a walk," she said and led her twin away.

**(-V-)**

Ron studied his counterpart carefully. The other stood quietly, obviously aware of what was happening and doing nothing to hinder the process. Despite Kim's assurances that these people could be trusted, Ron wasn't ready to commit just yet. He'd had too many people he'd trusted too quickly turn on him, and while he might have been a slow learner, he did catch on eventually.

So he took careful note of everything about his twin. He was relaxed, but watchful. His physique indicated a certain amount of weight training, but not as much as Ron himself indulged in. His clothing, while passable as civilian attire, was clearly designed for intense physical activity, and cut loosely enough to suggest that the activity in question required a lot of mobility. A belt fitted with pouches carried a number of devices, some familiar to Ron from the old days, such as the Kimmunicator and grapple gun, others quite mysterious. The dark green bracer on the other's right wrist had to be the Lotus Blade, camouflaged but available for immediate use.

Ron had been exposed to the mystical force known as Monkey Power more than a decade earlier in the castle of Lord Monty Fiske, and apparently his counterpart had as well. At Yamanouchi, he'd learned to use that power to instill fear in the minds of others. Had this other Ron done the same?

"You know," the other said, "If you want to know stuff about me, you could just ask."

The remark had the unaccustomed effect of startling Ron, if only slightly.

"How did you...?" he stammered.

"It's pretty obvious you're sizing me up," the other answered, "trying to form an opinion about me based on my appearance." The other gave Ron a meaningful look. "And we both know that appearances can be deceiving, don't we?"

"True enough," Ron conceded. Then he countered with, "I'll be honest. I don't quite trust you yet."

"I can understand that," the other said. "We might be a trick on the part of some villain who's out to get you, or maybe evil twins with sinister plans to conquer your world, or something like that."

"Exactly," Ron nodded.

"We aren't though," the other denied. "We're just what we say we are. Your Kim trusts us. Isn't her word good enough for you?"

"There was a time," Ron admitted, "When it would have been." His face went briefly thoughtful, then he added, "In most cases."

The other Ron blinked. "Oh yeah," he said sheepishly, his cheeks reddening. "The whole 'Drakken is going to steal Christmas' thing."

"Exactly," Ron agreed.

"What changed?" the other asked.

For answer, Ron just gestured at the roses lying on the ground behind him.

The other Ron looked intently at the roses, then returned his gaze to Ron's face with a distinct look of disapproval.

"So, your parents die, and instead of allowing people who love you to help you deal with your grief, you run off for eight years, leaving your pregnant girlfriend behind. That's _very_ mature, Ron."

It was as if the other had found the most fragile part of Ron's psyche and struck directly at it. Anger boiled up inside him, though he kept it as much in check as he could.

"You're judging me?" he growled, taking an involuntary step to his right. It was like a trigger. The other mimicked the move, and suddenly the two men were circling like wary prizefighters.

"My parents were murdered! Gunned down in front of me, because I wasn't fast or good enough to stop the gang that attacked us!"

"Strange," the other countered, "I'd put the blame on the guy who aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. Nobody made him do that."

Ron was reeling. The other certainly knew which buttons to push. That insight, coming even as it did in the midst of the fury coursing through him, convinced Ron that the other really was him, and not some trick. Who else, after all, could possibly know you as well as you could know yourself?

"It was my fault," Ron repeated. "If I hadn't fought, had just let Dad give them what they wanted..." he began.

"...that punk might have shot them anyway, out of spite," the other finished. The other stopped circling and dropped his guard. "Ron," he said, "you can't always save everybody. In my world, there are thousands of people dead now because Kim and I weren't fast enough to get there in time, or flexible enough to be in eight places at once, or smart enough to figure out the bad guy's plan and stop it before it even got started. If you let it eat you up inside...well, it can't be good for you."

Ron let the scowl fade from his face, replacing it with a cool stare. "Spare me the psychoanalysis, please. Whether the decisions I've made were good or bad, they're in the past now."

"Fair enough," the other conceded. "Just be mindful of how the decisions you've yet to make will affect your future."

**-$-**

Lehrman rubbed his temples, trying to drive back the headache that was creeping up on him. For all that Slade Wilson was an excellent business partner, he was irritatingly impulsive. What was it about villains, super or otherwise, that made it impossible for them to take their time, to think things thoroughly through? And why, why, why could they never be forthright with their allies?

Lehrman had gone to Slade to discuss his concerns about Batman and Kim Possible. Slade had reacted with his usual mix of condescension and circumspection, advising Lehrman to relax because he, Slade Wilson, had everything well in hand. Not, Lehrman conceded, that Slade had been _totally_ unforthcoming. He'd admitted, however obliquely, that he had plans for dealing with both Kim Possible and Batman. In fact, Lehrman had gleaned from Slade's words that the plans were somehow related, though his efforts to gain clarification had been brushed aside. And then there was the impression he got, thin as it was, that Slade knew far more about Batman than he let on. The man had excused himself from Lehrman's company soon after and left the lair on an errand he wouldn't talk about.

"Well," Lehrman said to himself as he dug an aspirin bottle out of a drawer in his workshop and swallowed two pills, "I guess that in addition to Batman and Kim Possible, I'd better make plans against the possibility of Slade doing something stupid."

**(-V-)**

Barbara sat at the computer in her mother's bedroom, playing a game.

"Babs, let's go play outside!" Helena whined, peeking in the loft door.

"Let me finish this stage, Helena, and I'll be right out, ok?" the little girl said absently, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Whatever," Helena shrugged before closing the door and stomping down the steps.

"You're a really smart girl, Ms. Possible, playing such a difficult video game." A voice spoke from behind the little redhead, causing her to spin the chair around to see a man sitting on her mother's bed.

"Who are you?" Barbara asked without a hint of fear in her voice. She looked over the man, who was dressed in an odd red and black costume with various weapons on his belt and a mask lying at his side. She took a good look at his face. He was an older man, probably around her grandpa Possible's age, with silvery gray hair, a small goatee and a patch over his right eye.

"Me? I'm just an old friend of your Uncle Ron," the man smiled. "My name's Slade."

"Oh?" Barbara asked still not breaking defiant eye contact.

"I need your help with something, sweetheart," Slade said with a soft smile, "Your mom said it was ok to trust me."

"No, momma would tell me," Barbara crossed her arms, giving the elder man a cold glare. "I think you're one of the bad guys."

"You're a smart girl," Slade smiled, then, faster than Barbara could react, shot her in the neck with a tranquilizer dart. "Too smart."


	6. Chapter 6

**(S)**

Before they reached the street, Kim paused and pulled her hair into a ponytail and then donned a ballcap and lightly tinted sunglasses. Her counterpart from this world favored her with a puzzled look, and Kim grinned.

"The sight of two Kim Possibles out in public might attract some attention, don't you think?"

The other Kim nodded in understanding. "If anybody asks," she said with a slight grin of her own, "I'll say you're my cousin from Montana."

"You have a cousin Joss, too, huh?" Kim rejoined. "Cool."

The two walked in silence for a bit, the Kim of this world occasionally glancing back the way they had come.

"Is he going to be okay?" Kim asked quietly. "Your Ron, I mean."

Kim's double gave a sigh that was equal parts resigned and regretful. "Yeah, " she said finally. "As well as he can be, given the circumstances, anyway."

Kim glanced around. The day was sunny and cool as promised, but even without a cloud in the sky, a pall seemed to hang over Triton. The people who shared the sidewalk with them were going about their business with expressions that struck Kim as serious, if not outright grim.

"Moodiness," she muttered. "Not something I'm used to seeing in Ron. It feels...unnatural."

"He wasn't always like this," the other Kim offered quickly. "He used to be...a lot more like your Ron. Carefree. Goofy." There was a slight catch in the other Kim's voice. "I miss that about him."

"It's hard to believe he could change so much."

"Well," the other Kim clarified, "He's better than he was. Right after his parents died, he was like a robot. Then, he left and when he came back, he was all dark and brooding. Now, he at least acts happy... sometimes, but that's mostly for show. Once in a while, though..."

"Mostly around Barbara, I'll bet," Kim suggested. That brought a genuine smile to her doppelganger's face.

"Yeah. She has that effect on people." The other Kim gave her double a sly look. "You should try it yourself."

Kim felt her cheeks heat. "Someday," she blushed. "After we're married."

The other Kim opened her mouth to say something else when her cell phone rang.

**(-V-)**

Ron and his counterpart from that other world were still in the alley, waiting for the Kims to return.

"Since we're in the clear on almost everything," the visiting Ron spoke up again, an oddly serious expression on his face, "What's with this Batman guy?"

"You've heard of him?" Ron asked blandly.

"Met him," the other Ron said gravely. "He's not much of a talker. Has an eye for detail, though."

"I've heard that," Ron snorted in reply. "Still, the guy dresses up like a bat. He obviously has issues."

"Don't we all," the other Ron agreed cryptically.

Ron's eyes narrowed and a slight shiver of anticipation ran down his spine. What was his double getting at? For all that he had the earmarks of a formidable fighter, he was a lousy actor. He was clearly hinting at something, but what? By his own admission, neither he nor his Kim had known anything of Batman besides the fact that he existed. But now, the other Ron seemed to be hinting that he was aware of Ron's dual identity. How could he know? Ron considered the obvious possibilities, that Kim, Bonnie, or Barbara had spilled the beans, but discounted them immediately. The Kimmunicator frequency glitch? Maybe, but he, as Batman, wouldn't have appeared on the screens. Had seeing Wade been enough for Team Possible to make the connection? Possible, but extremely unlikely. Wade always made his calls from in front of a blank background, so the other Kim and Ron would have had no idea the signal was originating from a cave. That and Wade had broken the contact almost instantly, essentially eliminating the prospect that the signal had been traced. Was the other Ron just guessing, making a stab in the dark? Or was he, Ron, reading too much into things?

"Quite," Ron countered. If his counterpart wanted to be cryptic, Ron would be laconic in return.

"Still, it's a nice costume," the other Ron commented. "Creepier than cousin Shawn in his worst years."

"I'm not sure I'd go that far," Ron smirked before his cell phone rang.

"Stoppable," he answered. "Wade, what's wrong… start the car; I'm on my way." He closed the cell, gripping it so tightly that the plastic cracked and broke.

"Come on," he growled to the other Ron and headed toward the two Kims, who were just entering the alley. His Kim was ashen faced, leaning heavily on her counterpart, who looked grim as death.

"Kim," he said, going to the Kim from this world. "You heard?." She nodded jerkily.

Ron turned to their counterparts. "Take her home," he commanded. "Commissioner Gordon is waiting for her there."

"What's wrong?" the other Ron asked, glancing between the visiting Kim and Ron worriedly.

"Don't ask questions. Just go," Ron said, turning and hurrying out of the alleyway.

"What are you doing?" the other Ron called after him.

"I have to go to work," Ron replied before he disappeared from view.

**(S)**

Ron pulled the other Kim's car up to her apartment building. Squad cars, an ambulance, and a couple of other emergency vehicles were parked on the street in front of it, as well as on the sidestreets and in the alley behind it. Basically, the building was surrounded.

"Oh, no …" the other Kim breathed. Then, collecting herself, she turned to Ron. "Park in the garage," she said, reaching up to press the button on the garage door remote. The lowest level of the building had several garage doors, one of which began to open. Ron guided the car toward it. The other Kim flashed her badge at the cops who moved to block the way, and they stepped aside. When the garage door was shut, the other Kim led them in to her apartment, ignoring the stares from the police officers inside as she quickly made her way to Commissioner Gordon.

**(-V-)**

"It's Barbara," her father-in-law said simply, and Kim felt her legs go out. Somehow, her doppelganger appeared behind her to catch her.

"Drakken and Shego again?" Kim asked worriedly.

"Don't think so," Jim Gordon shook his head, "It was too clean, besides… I think _he_ taught them their lesson last time. Someone else's turn, it seems."

"Speaking of which, he's up in there now," Jim thumbed toward the stairs. "You should go see if he's found anything."

The detective glanced to her companions, and they nodded and began to scale the stairs to her loft bedroom.

Kim opened the door to her room and went right in, closely followed by her and Ron's counterparts. "Batman?"

"Over here," Batman's rough voice sounded, and the three found him beside the computer desk with a police-marked dagger stuck in the tabletop. "I know who has Barbara," he growled, glancing to his Kim.

"A katana-themed dagger? Is it Monkey Fist's?" Kim asked, pulling on a rubber glove to examine the knife without disturbing the finger prints.

"No, not Fiske. It's the Terminator," he growled.

"Dude! The Governor of California? I mean, how messed up is that?" the other Ron exclaimed, shaking his head in shock.

"No," Batman rasped, narrowing his eyes on his counterpart while noting that both Kims were rolling their eyes. "Deathstroke the Terminator. His real name is Slade Wilson. Age fifty-two. He's successfully combined Eastern and Western assassination techniques and has, by last count, assassinated or simply murdered at least a hundred thousand people. He's a master of almost all known martial arts techniques. He's dedicated his life to making the world the way he wants it to be … and killing all who stand in his way."

There was a lingering silence after Batman finished speaking, one in which the other Kim and Ron gaped at him in shock.

"A hundred _thousand_ people?" the other Ron stammered. Batman nodded silently.

"Why is he still drawing breath?" the other Kim demanded. "I'd think he'd be on the hit lists of every major law enforcement agency on Earth."

"He is," Batman admitted with a tight, humorless smile. "Unfortunately, he's also on the 'Our Best Boy' list of most of the world's intelligence services and other criminal organizations, so he's a bit elusive."

"You certainly know a lot about this guy," the visiting Kim noted.

"I do," Batman confirmed, "because I trained under him for two years."

Both Kims and Ron gaped at him in disbelief. "It's a long story. We don't have time for it now." Batman turned toward the window. "I'm going to see what I can find out." Just before he ducked out the window, he said to Kim, "I'll be in touch." Then, he was gone. Seconds later, a turbine engine whined to life, and a large, black vehicle roared down the alley behind Kim's building and disappeared.

The other Ron stared after it wide-eyed, then turned to his Kim and said, "I got to get me one of those!"

**-$-**

Barbara's green eyes slowly blinked open. She was in a dimly lit room, lying on a cot. The only exit was a sturdy looking door with a large window in it.

"Well, the princess has finally rejoined us," a cold voice said through a speaker mounted on the ceiling. A camera was mounted there as well, watching her every move. "Did you have a nice nap?" the voice asked.

"Batman and my Mommy will save me," She said defiantly, glaring up at the camera.

There was a movement at the door. Slade, the one eyed man who had surprised her in her mother's room, was there, along with a dark haired man she didn't recognize.

"Kim Possible will die trying, as will Ron Stoppable," Slade said, his eye dancing with sick pleasure. "You've begun looking at Ronald as your father, haven't you? Don't look surprised, little girl. I've been watching you all for quite some time. Soon, I will kill your mother and your second father. Once that is finished, I will teach you to use the pain I cause to your advantage."

"You're wrong!" Barbara declared defiantly. "Mommy and Batman will come for me and they'll kick your butt," she added with a hateful glare.

"We shall see, young one, we shall see," he laughed as he and his companion walked away from her cell.

Barbara kept her defiant face up 'til she was sure the two men were well enough away. Once they were gone, her eyes swelled with fear and tears. "I want my mommy…" she whispered. "I want my daddy…"

Lehrman had wondered why Slade asked him to come along when he checked up on the Possible girl. Now, as they headed back toward the main part of Slade's lair, he puzzled over his associate's motives.

"You disapprove of my kidnapping the girl."

The words were delivered in a dispassionate tone and were clearly a statement rather than a question.

Lehrman shrugged. "Not as such," he denied truthfully. "I just don't see the point of it. If you want Possible and Stoppable dead, why not just put a bullet through their heads and have done with it?"

"That wouldn't suit my purposes, Francis," Slade returned calmly.

Lehrman frowned. "This isn't one of those 'it isn't enough that I win; my enemies must know that they have lost, and that it was me that beat them' things, is it?"

Slade halted and fixed Lehrman with his single eye. "And if it is?" he challenged.

Lehrman felt a stab of fear. He had no doubt that Slade could and would kill him if he decided it was necessary, but at the same time, he refused to let the man cow him.

"If it is, it's a totally unnecessary risk. An anonymous tip would be bait enough for any trap. This will ensure that Possible will be highly motivated when she comes after us, and Batman too, if what you've told me about him is accurate."

Slade gave Lehrman a condescendingly tolerant smile. "Which is just as I wish," he said. Then, his face went cool again. "Remember my advice, Francis: Do as I say, and you'll become a rich man." With that, Slade turned on his heel and strode off, leaving a fuming Lehrman behind him.

**(-V-)**

The Kim of the other world wasn't in nearly as good a mood as her Ron, who was still rambling on about the Batmobile.

"What the hell was that all about?" she demanded angrily. "A few cryptic remarks, some sullen moodiness, and poof! 'I'll be in touch'?"

"That's how Batman works," Kim explained a bit defensively. She could understand her counterpart's frustration, though. Ron, er, Batman, sometimes engaged in theatricality for what seemed like its own sake. While it was an important part of maintaining his secret identity, it could be a bit annoying at times. Kim had sort of learned to tolerate it, but her double obviously lacked that experience, as well as the psychological baggage that had made Kim a bit more passive than she had been in her youth.

The other Kim whirled to face her, green eyes flashing, almost smoldering with anger.

"I don't give a damn," she growled. "Batman knows more than he's telling, that's for sure, and I don't like it when my allies keep information about enemies to themselves."

Kim stared back at her double. As she did, something stirred within her, something she'd once thought she'd lost, had beaten out of her long ago, but that had resurfaced a time or two in the intervening years. The other Ron, who had gone silent at his Kim's outburst, looked back and forth between the two women. As he watched, the Kim of this world's expression changed, slowly morphing from one of helpless passivity to a determined glare. Dexter, who had been sleeping (as usual) in one of Ron's pockets, poked his head out and gulped.

"Uh oh!" he chirped. "Double Kimness!"

"Beware the Kimness," Ron agreed.

Neither Kim noticed.

"I have a feeling you know where Batman went," the other Kim asserted.

"I do," Kim confirmed. "Let's go get some answers."

**(-V-)**

The other Ron whistled as Kim pulled her car up to the ornate gate that closed off the driveway to her Ron's home. The lot was enormous, covering a whole block, with barriers of trees and shrubbery that all but obscured the home at the center.

"It's not much," Kim said sardonically, addressing the other Kim and Ron, "but Ron calls it home."

She launched into a brief description of the house. "Three stories, ten bedrooms, two dining rooms, a breakfast room, a ballroom, you name it." Kim suddenly smiled in embarrassment. "Sorry for rambling. I just gotta keep my mind moving. If I stop and think about the situation, I'll end up a useless mess, and that won't help Barbara at all."

There was a brief, awkward silence, then, as if to lighten the mood, Ron snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "I know this place! This is the home of that guy who played the Fearless Ferret on TV!"

"That's right, Timothy North. He left the place to Ron when he died," Kim explained as she pressed her thumb against a small panel by the gate, which opened silently.

Parking her car on the curved drive at the front of the house, Kim and her guests approached the massive wooden doors of Ron's mansion.

"Do we knock?" the other Ron asked, eying the sturdy looking door.

"Nah, I have a key," Kim supplied.

Once inside, Kim led them through the ornate front hall. The visiting Team Possible seemed overwhelmed by the mansion. "Ron lives here by himself?" the other Kim asked as she oogled the rich decor.

"No," Kim replied, taking a turn down a side hallway. "The study's this way," she explained before continuing, "Ron lives with Felix and Wade."

"Nice digs," the other Ron commented, taking his Kim's hand. "It seems a bit much, though. Does your Ron really like it?"

"Ron doesn't spend a lot of time up here," Kim told the visiting pair, entering a room that seemed to be a library. She headed toward one of the bookshelf covered walls. "He's usually downstairs."

"Downstairs?" the other Kim asked as Kim pulled a book, and the bookshelves slid aside, revealing a narrow stairway.

"Follow me," Kim said with a jerk of her head before leading her guests down the dimly lit stairway.

A steel door closed off the bottom of the stairs, but it slid aside as they approached.

"I'm sure he knows we're coming," Kim speculated for the other Kim's and Ron's benefit. "The fact that he hasn't tried to stop us tells me he's okay with you two knowing."

"Very spankin'," the visiting Kim said as they followed Kim into what turned out to be a large and extensive underground complex.

"So, what does he call this place?" the other Ron asked as he looked around, his eyes finally settling on identical versions of his and his Kim's old mission gear in a large glass case.

"A cave," Batman's voice growled, making him jump in surprise. The dark clad figure of Batman emerged from the shadows, an almost palpable aura of menace surrounding him.

"Why did you bring them here?" he asked, scowling at the Kim of this world. Kim shuddered despite herself.

"Well, uh, I," she stammered.

The other Ron cut in. "Nice trick," he said, grinning shrewdly. "Mystical monkey power, right?"

Almost as fast as it had manifested itself, the sense of menace dissipated, and Batman gave a nearly imperceptible start.

"Of course," Batman acknowledged. "I should have known you'd be familiar with that ability."

"Actually, I'm not," the other Ron clarified. "The aura of menace thing, that is. I use my version of the power differently."

Before the other Ron could expand on what he'd said, and before Batman could question him, two familiar figures emerged from the depths of the cave.

"Kim, Ron, meet our Wade and Felix," Kim introduced as her Wade and Felix stepped forward, expressions of surprise mixed with a touch of awe on their faces.

"I'll be damned," Wade breathed. "It really is true."

"What he said," Felix added softly.

Batman pulled off his cowl, shaking his head to get rid of his 'mask hair'. For a moment, a semi-goofy expression adorned his face, as if he was enjoying the odd humor of the situation. Then, all too quickly, the goofiness vanished.

"Follow me," he commanded, leading the others toward a workstation that sported a number of keyboards and monitors, all tied into a cluster of computers of various sizes.

"Anything yet?" Kim asked over her Ron's shoulder as he sat down in front of one of the terminals.

Wade, who had been staring at the other world's Kim and Ron, dragged his eyes away from them and looked at his Kim.

"Not yet," he said regretfully. "Slade is a worse case scenario on the search system. He does everything he can to hide the fact that he exists. Makes it a bit difficult to keep track of him, let alone pinpoint his location."

Ron turned his brown eyes away from the data streaming across the display in front of him, his expression much softer than it had been a moment earlier.

"He won't hurt her, KP. He needs her to get to me. As long as she's useful, she'll be ok. And we will get her back."

"But, how will we find him?" the visiting Kim asked, sounding as worried as if Barbara was her own daughter.

"I have other means of tracking," Ron answered calmly. "She should be getting back soon with some useful information." Ron stood up and wrapped his cape around his shoulders like a cloak.

"And do you mind telling me what this is about you training under him for two years?" Kim asked, her police detective training kicking in.

"Remember how I traveled for around seven years before I came back?" Ron reminded her. "I was only at Yamanouchi for two years, but before that, I received basic training from another League of Shadows member."

"Slade Wilson," Kim deduced, and Ron nodded.

"I was one of his best students," Ron elaborated. "Or so he told me," he added with a wry grin. "But the final test, before I was accepted as having mastered his teachings, was to kill a man. He was a farmer from the local village. His harvest had failed, and his wife was very sick. He robbed a grocer to get money for medicine and was caught by Slade. I was supposed to prove my 'dedication to justice' by killing him. I helped the man escape and then I walked away. End of story."

"So, Slade being here is just to get back at you for failing him?" the visiting Kim asked sharply.

"No, he's not that petty. He's probably here as a representative of the League of Shadows," Ron said, pulling his cowl back over his features, "I already know they want to burn Triton to the ground as an example to the world of what needs to be done to unjust cities. He just took Barbara as a way to control me."

"Rough world," the other Ron commented somberly.

"The cat's back," Felix announced suddenly. His words were followed by the sound of an engine and then a motorcycle roaring out of a tunnel on the other end of the cave. The motorcycle rolled to a halt, and its rider, a lithe woman in a shiny, black bodysuit, dismounted with what seemed to be calculated grace.

The visiting Kim scowled slightly when her Ron's eyes widened and his jaw went slack. "What kept you, Catwoman?" Batman asked as the leather clad woman stretched sensually. She looked at Batman through her goggled mask and smirked.

"You didn't exactly give me an easy job, handsome," she purred. "I had to scratch a little harder this time."

Kim felt the usual stir of jealousy that always accompanied her encounters with Catwoman. Ron, back in Batman mode, was seemingly indifferent to Catwoman's flirtatious behavior. The Ron of the other world was less guarded and was staring with undisguised admiration at the Cat and her attributes. His Kim gave him a brief, half-sour/half-amused look and then elbowed him in the ribs, after which, his face became as impassive as Batman's. Catwoman seemed to notice that and, in her shamelessly slinky way, sidled up to the other Ron and ran her finger along the line of his jaw.

"Ron Stoppable," she purred. "But not the one I know, unless my eyes are playing tricks on me."

The other Kim glared at Catwoman and snapped, "Did you find out anything useful, Bonnie, or did your need to flirt cause you to lose focus?"

Catwoman jerked as if she'd been slapped, and even Batman seemed shocked by the other Kim's pronouncement.

"Wow, you figured me out so quickly?" Catwoman stammered, trying to regain her poise. She pulled off her mask and said, "You're already proving to be better than our Kimmie."

Turning, she handed a piece of paper to Batman. "Don't worry, hon, I know where the psycho took Barb. Any chance of letting me tag along, Ronnie? This mama-cat would like to sink her claws into the jerk who took my baby's best friend."

"Just me, Kim and Team Possible." Batman said with a shake of his head. "Is the Batmobile ready to go, Felix?" he asked.

Felix answered with a nod, and Batman pressed a button on his belt, causing the canopy atop the huge, black vehicle to slide open. He turned his attention to Team Possible. "The fact that Slade is unaware of your presence should give us an edge."

"Agreed," the other Ron said. "We'll try not to show our hand too soon."

Batman nodded and then switched his attention to his Kim.

"I had Wade charge up your old battle suit," he said. He pointed behind her, and Kim turned to see the white and blue garment arrayed in a display case next to her old mission togs. "It's fully charged and stocked with all you old gadgets," Wade threw in, "ready for you to change into."

Batman watched impassively as Kim snagged the suit from its case and headed to another part of the cave to change. Then, he turned to the other Kim and Ron, "You have your mission gear?"

The other Kim nodded. She clipped her Kimmunicator and grapple gun to her belt and donned a combination earpiece/microphone. "I'm all set," she said. The other Ron, already wearing his mission clothes, mirrored his Kim, then went a little farther by pulling on a ninja hood and mask, though he left his face uncovered for the moment.

"We're good to go, Bats," the other Ron said to his masked double.

"I'm good to go as well," the Kim of this world chimed in, stepping somewhat shyly out of the gloom. The suit hugged every curve, as it always had, and Kim seemed a bit embarrassed that she wasn't in the same shape she'd been in her teens.

"Nice," the other Kim said, nodding approvingly.

"If we're done comparing combat gear, I'm leaving." Batman said, turning toward the Batmobile. "Anyone who wants to come, load up."

"Shotgun!" the other Ron exclaimed as he followed behind.


	7. Chapter 7

(S)

The Batmobile raced along the streets of Triton, its engine rumbling like thunder, weaving through traffic under Batman's steady hand.

Ron marveled at his counterpart's skill at handling the massive vehicle. Ron wasn't exactly a slouch behind the wheel, but his skills were feeble compared to those of the Ron of this world.

Even more impressive was the way the traffic parted for the onrushing Batmobile, like the Red Sea parting before the Israelites. The looks directed their way by pedestrians and other drivers showed a mixture of fear, apprehension, awe, and hope. Reaching out with his mind, Ron tasted the emotions behind the expressions. What he found saddened him, but he took heart from one thing: the people of Triton hardly dared hope that life in their city would improve, but Ron's counterpart, as Batman, had rekindled their ability to hope, and with every day that he survived in his fight against the forces of darkness, the tiny flame he had lit grew larger and stronger.

Behind the Rons, in the jumpseats that made the tiny passenger compartment's front seats seem spacious, rode the two Kim Possibles. The Kim of this world was detailing the capabilities of the blue and white battle suit she was wearing. From what Ron gathered as she spoke, it had been made for her years earlier by her version of Wade for use in a mission against Doctor Drakken and Shego. Kim's description of a hapless, rather clumsy and incompetent Drakken and a sarcastic, somewhat cruel, but not really vicious Shego made Ron smile. But behind the smile, he was deep in thought.

'The names are the same, and the appearances are the same, but the _people_ playing the roles are so different,' he mused. 'At least in general,' he amended after a bit more reflection. Some people, like Monkey Fist and the Senors, were virtual carbon copies of each other in appearance, personality and behavior.

Others, like Duff Killigan, had identical origins and appearances, and similar personalities, but radically different behavior: the Killigan of this world was a terrorist and thief who graced the Most Wanted lists of dozens of countries, while the 'Duff' Killigan that Ron knew was the rich and respected Patrick, Lord Killigan, who hosted an annual golf tournament on his island estate. As far as anyone had ever been able to show, the rumors that he was an exceptionally skilled and successful thief were just that: rumors.

Ron shook his head and focused on the Kim of this world again and what she had been saying. Her suit was impressive. Among its capabilities, it was fire-, bullet-, and shrapnel-proof. It offered protection from extremes of temperature, as well as augmentation to Kim's strength. It also contained a host of neat gadgets, from a mouthpiece that allowed underwater breathing to built-in communications gear. Pouches and pockets held tiny lasers, canisters of tear gas, constrictive plastic, and other items, some of which Ron recognized from his Kim's use of identical stuff.

"Pretty neat suit, KP," he grinned, unfeigned enthusiasm evident in his voice. To his surprise, the Kim of this world gave him a queer look, then blushed slightly.

"All it needs," Ron went on excitedly, "Is a big 'KP' on the chest, and you'd be all set."

That made the other Kim blush even more.

"You make me sound like some kind of superhero," she said with a wry smile, underlain with more than a touch of regret.

Ron shrugged. "We'll, you've got the colorful costume, the cool gadgets, and the mad skills," he replied. "In my world, that'd make you a superhero by default."

"Your world sounds like a happy place," this world's Kim said softly.

"Be that as it may," Batman interrupted gruffly, "We're in our world, Detective Possible, and we need to stay focused."

"Right," Kim agreed, snapping out of her reverie. She pulled out her Kimmunicator and keyed it. Wade's face appeared on the small screen.

"Wade, what have you got on that location Catwoman gave us?" she demanded. They'd left the Batcave without any real idea of what they were walking into, driven by the urgency of the situation. Wade had promised complete plans of the place, as well as advice on getting in undetected.

"Oh, ye of little faith," Wade grinned cockily. "I have everything you need right here, Kim. Downloading it to your... I mean, to everyone's Kimmunicators now," he added.

The Kim of this world studied the information that came up on her display.

"The Lowerton Foundry," she muttered. It made sense. The foundry had been shut down since the mid-nineteen-seventies, after more than a century of operation. Presently, the sight was mostly abandoned, save for a handful of small businesses that were able to make use of various of the old foundry's facilities.

It was a widely held opinion within the Triton PD that said small businesses, while wholly legitimate in and of themselves, were fronts for the mob, probably used to launder money from various criminal activities.

The presence of those small enterprises would also serve to explain away any activity at the sprawling foundry complex. And complex it was. In the hundred and twelve years of its existence, the foundry had been built, partly torn down, rebuilt, buried, flooded, rebuilt again, and so on. The last modernization, in the late fifties, had left a curious assemblage of modern concrete buildings standing among crumbling edifices of brick and stone. Old plans showed extensive underground passages and chambers, some of them quite large. In all, the place was a labyrinth, and Barbara could be anywhere within it.

"Yes, the Lowerton Foundry," Batman growled. "It fits Slade's M.O. perfectly: fairly remote, easily defensibly, yet close enough to the action be a convenient base of operations."

The Kim of the other world was studying her own Kimmunicator thoughtfully.

"Big place," she murmured. "If we have to search the whole facility it'll take hours, even at-" She cut herself off suddenly and sat up straight. Fixing her gaze on Batman she said, "My Ron can probably sense Barbara through the mystical monkey power, once we get close enough, that is," she said, "But that will only give us a direction. Actually getting to her could take a while. What's your plan?"

Batman didn't take his eyes off the road.

"I suspect that Slade is using this building here," he said, taking one hand off the wheel just long enough to point at a building on the holographic display that sprang to life across the inside of the Batmobile's windshield. It was the foundry's main building, the one where steel and iron had been melted and poured into molds. "But we'll check all of them, just to be sure."

"My Ron and I will handle the outbuildings," the other Kim remarked. When Batman responded with a quizzical glance, she added, "Between him, me and Dexter, we can search them faster than you might think, Batman. Besides, you and your Kim should be the ones to rescue Barbara. We'll play backup."

"Why that one?" the other Ron interjected, nodding at the display, his tone dubious.

"It's far and away the largest and the interior would work well as a maze-like fortress." Batman answered grimly. "If Slade's anything, he's a killer. Especially with those who try to get in his way. He enjoys luring his enemies into death traps. But we have one advantage. Slade is expecting one or two, we're delivering four."

"Heck of a trump card," Ron whispered, glancing back to his Kim to wink. "On the other hand," he added, "Slade does know you're coming. Or at least he expects it."

"Exactly," Batman nodded. "That's while we need to check all the buildings. Slade may have anticipated that I'd deduce his choice of lair and altered his plans accordingly." Batman went silent for a moment, thinking, then spoke again. "I assume, with your ninja training, you can stick to the shadows, Ron," Batman asked, glancing to the visitor. "And hopefully, keep your Kim hidden."

Ron nodded.

"Good. Hopefully, we can get Barbara out of there before it gets rough, but if anyone runs into trouble, hit the signal button on the Kimmunicators." Batman concluded. The Batmobile slowed as he turned a corner, then stopped. The canopy slid back. "This is where we get out," he announced. "The foundry is a two blocks away. We go on foot the rest of the way."

(-V-)

"This place is a maze …" Kim complained as she and Batman moved through the main building. The place was like the steel mills she always saw in movies, with huge crucibles, giant cranes, massive conveyor belts, and a bewildering array of machines whose functions she could only guess at. All of them were cold and dark, but that only seemed to make them more intimidating.

"I warned you it would be," Batman reminded her as he paused to look around a corner. They had seen few signs of life so far. The three buildings they'd checked so far had been obviously deserted, with no evidence of recent activity. Now, they were in the big building, the one Batman had singled out from the beginning. There was plenty of activity here. There were some guards, but they were all on the perimeter of the building, looking outward mentally as well as physically. There were few to none in the interior.

The danger inside came from the lackeys of the two men they were seeking. The danger was that of discovery, as none of the men they had seen so far seemed capable of putting up a serious fight. They were all engaged in manufacturing Frugal Lucre's advanced weaponry.

"How do you know we're on the right track?" Kim whispered.

"I don't." Batman admitted. "Hopefully, we'll find Barbara without anyone noticing we're here. If we have to, though, we'll snag somebody and see if they know anything."

They moved on, deep into the building, sticking to the shadows. Batman had expected Kim's suit to stick out. He'd forgotten that it had the ability to shift its coloration. Kim hadn't and had switched to a black and gray camouflage pattern before he'd finished voicing his concern.

(-V-)

Barbara tried the door again. It was still locked. The office she was being held in still had furniture and stuff, even some things she could have used to break the glass of the big window in the door. But there was a man standing right outside, which made escape by that route impossible.

Not one to give up, Barbara went around the office again, searching for something, anything, that might help her. She was halfway along when she heard a scratching noise and tensed up. She wasn't afraid of rats, as such, but she'd seen a couple since she'd been brought here, big ones. The idea of being locked in a small room with one wasn't very pleasant. Something scampered out of the shadows and slid to a stop in front of her.

"Rufus!" Barbara gasped, "I mean, Dexter!"

"Hi!" Dexter said, waving up at her. "Kim Kim Ron Ron come rescue you!" he squeaked.

"I can't get out the way you got in?" Barbara asked eagerly. Dexter though for a moment, then nodded his head and gestured for Barbara to follow. In a corner of the office, hidden under a rug, was a ventilation grille. Moving as quietly as she could, Barbara pulled the rug away. The grille was held in place only by gravity and came up easily.

The air duct below was dark and scary looking, but Dexter, sensing Barbara's apprehension, jumped down into it and produced a tiny but powerful light from the pack he wore on his back. With a grin, Barbara lowered herself into the duct and pulled the grille back into place.

(-V-)

Kim was standing behind Batman, leaning over his shoulder as he scanned the open area ahead of them. He found he had to concentrate to stay focused, what with her being so close and smelling so good. She touched him lightly to get his attention and pointed. A man carrying a fast food bag and a large cup was heading for what appeared to be an office. Interestingly, the office door had a guard, who had to unlock the door to admit the man with the food. More interestingly, the man with the food came out mere moments later, clearly agitated.

"She's gone!" the food man exclaimed.

The guard ducked into the office, came back out again, produced a two-way radio and spoke into it.

"Possible's brat has escaped!"

In the darkness across the way, Kim smiled.

"That's my girl," she said softly.

"What do you mean she's escaped?" Slade demanded angrily. The stammered response of his unseen lackey made Lucre grin. Whatever his faults, the man knew how to cow and intimidate people.

"I mean she's gone, sir," the lackey answered. "There's an air vent in the office we didn't notice earlier," he added after a brief pause. "Maybe she went in there."

"Maybe you should find out," Slade suggested sarcastically. Then, in an icy cold voice, "If she isn't caught in fifteen minutes, I'll have to take disciplinary action."

Shaking his head in disgust, Slade hit the general communications button on his radio.

"Attention. The prisoner has escaped. She may be in the ventilation system. Be on the lookout and keep me informed." With that, Slade snagged his weapons and headed for the door. "I'm going to look for her," he said simply. Lucre responded by picking up one of his prototype weapons and following on Slade's heels.

(-V-)

Batman keyed his comm unit.

"Wade," he whispered. "Barbara's escaped into the ventilation system. I need plans for it, ASAP."

Wade had barely answered in the affirmative when a new voice came on the network. At first, Batman didn't recognize it, but then it hit him. It was the voice of a naked mole rat. The excited chittering was hard to follow, but then Barbara's voice took over.

"Mommy?" the little girl whispered, sounding more than a little scared.

"I'm here, baby," Kim broke in. "Where are you?"

"I don't know," Barbara confessed. "There are men all around, and I think they know where I am."

"Your Mom and I are on our way," Batman said as reassuringly as his stage voice would allow him to. "You stay where you are, unless someone comes in after you, okay?"

"Okay," Barbara promised.

(-V-)

Kim and Batman hurried through the foundry, avoiding such of Slade's underlings as they encountered. They had made the somewhat risky decision to have Dexter transmit again, for just a few seconds every couple of minutes, so they could get a fix on Barbara's location. It was risky because, even though it was highly unlikely Slade could break the Kimmunicators' encryption set, he _could _detect the transmissions themselves. _If _he was listening for them.

(-V-)

Barbara shivered nervously. One of the bad men was getting very close now. She could hear him moving in the vent behind her.

"He must have figured out where we got to and followed us, Dexter," she whispered.

Dexter nodded in agreement, then tugged at Barbara's wrist with his tiny paw.

"Hnka! Follow!" he chirped, gesturing farther down the shaft.

Gathering her courage, Barbara followed Dexter's lead.

Slade's men were nervous. They all knew who the little girl, and by extension, her mother, was. They also knew that Detective Kim Possible was an ally of The Bat. In their minds, deliberately drawing the attention of the Caped Crusader was madness, and the fancy guns Slade's new partner had provided them were of little comfort. Could bullets hurt a shadow? Let alone kill it?

The fact that they were almost nothing more than common thugs was evidenced by their tactics. Instead of working in teams, they were hunting individually. One thug, a fellow named Steiss, hearing a banging noise that seemed to come from one of the air ducts and crisscross the foundry, raised his gun and fired. The burst echoed loudly in the stillness, making his comrades jump and become even more jittery. The rattle of ricocheting bullets had barely faded when a hand landed on Steiss' shoulder and dragged him around.

"I want her alive, fool!" Slade hissed and cracked Steiss across the face with the back of his fist. Steiss staggered, spitting blood, nodding submissively.

Elsewhere, a man named Pritchard was approaching a dark alcove. His heart was thumping, for he thought he'd seen...something...duck into the alcove. He wanted nothing more than to riddle the alcove with automatic gunfire but, mindful of Slade's words, and terrified of the man's wrath, Pritchard held his fire. With a final summoning of courage, Pritchard stepped around the last corner, gun leveled.

The alcove was empty. Pritchard sighed and sagged with relief. Then, a gloved hand clamped itself across his mouth and dragged him into the darkness.

(-V-)

Barbara found herself at a dead end, looking out a grate at what seemed to be an empty chamber, though she couldn't see all that much of it. Whoever was following her had lost ground, but was still coming.

"I think we'd better get out and see if we can find a better hiding place, Dex," she confided. Dexter nodded his agreement, and with his help Barbara soon had the grate off. A quick glance showed she was in a large room with a very high ceiling. Around the perimeter were stacks of crates and stuff. Plenty of hiding places, she decided. Working quickly, Barbara replaced the grate, then turned to bolt for the nearest wall. She found herself confronted by the black clad figure of Batman.

Barbara threw herself at the Dark Knight with a teary cry of, "Daddy!"

Batman wrapped her in his arms and cape and held her tight to his chest. "It's going to be ok now, munchkin, I promise," he whispered in his own voice as she buried her face into his chest.

"I know," she smiled as Batman picked her up.

"Now, let's get you back to Mommy. She's been really worried about you," Batman whispered. He turned, ready to head back to where Kim was waiting, and froze.

"Leaving so soon?" Slade Wilson, a.k.a. Deathstroke the Terminator, asked, stepping out of the gloom. "I'm hurt that you don't appreciate my hospitality."

Batman stepped toward Deathstroke, making sure he was between Barbara and the madman. As he did so, one hand slipped down to his belt pressed the Kimmunicator signal button. "It's been a long time, Slade," he said.

"Indeed it has, Ronald. I must say your combat attire is quite interesting, though I imagine the cape gets in the way in CQC." Deathstroke said, his head cocked slightly to the side.

"Barbara, stay behind me" Batman commanded, never taking his eyes off his opponent.

Slade reached up and casually drew a sword from a scabbard on his back. As he did so, Batman noticed a number of Slade's minion's enter the room, guns held at the ready. They began to fan out.

Batman knew what they intended. Separate themselves widely enough, and someone among them would have a shot at Barbara, no matter what Batman did. They were going to try and force him to surrender by threatening Kim's daughter. Batman fought to keep a grin off his face. Instead, he counted down in his head. 'Three, two, one.'

There was a rush of air as a dark-clad redhead dropped from the shadows above, snatched Barbara up with one arm, and disappeared back into the gloom

"I think you just lost your trump card, Slade," Batman jeered.

Slade snarled, then gestured to a ladder that lead to the upper areas of the room. One harshly worded order later, three of his thugs were ascending the ladder.

"Let them go," Batman said. "You have what you want."

Slade chuckled. "No," he refused.

"Why not?"

"You must suffer before you die, _Batman_," Slade mocked.

"You're a monster, Slade."

"And you're a sad excuse for a human being; as always, you lack the strength to do all that is neccesary." Slade sneered.

"Let's find out, Sensei." Batman growled before sending a Batarang toward the assassin.

(-V-)

"Stay close to me, honey," Kim said as she and Barbara took stock of their surroundings. They were on a catwalk high above the floor. Pulling out her Kimmunicator, Kim brought up a diagram of the building. Sure enough, the network of catwalks was included in the plans. Working quickly, Kim mapped out their escape route.

"We aren't going to leave Daddy, are we?" Barbara asked in an anguished voice.

It was all Kim could do not to burst into tears at her daughter's choice of title for Ron. As it was, she did get misty eyed and choked up a bit.

"Daddy will be fine, baby. You know how good he is in a fight. Besides, that other Kim and Ron are helping us, remember?"

(-V-)

Slade's sword struck the blades of Batman's gauntlets as the two men tested each other's defenses.

"What's the matter, _Batman_? I thought you would thank me for removing the evidence that your beloved Kim Possible laid with another man."

Batman, knowing Slade was trying to goad him, said nothing, limiting his response to a punch at the face which the older man dodged with ease.

"Ra's al Ghul was right about you. You had so much potential, _Batman_, only to waste it like this. It's a shame."

"Don't count me out yet," Batman warned, catching the blade of the katana between the spikes of his gauntlets and wrenching it from Slade's grasp.

"Not bad," Slade allowed, spinning away from his foe and snatching up the sword from where it had fallen. He took a moment to examine the blade for damage, then resumed his attack. Behind him, Frugal Lucre and a dozen more thugs ran into the room.

Slade's henchmen reached the catwalk level and fanned out in an effort to cut off their quarry. They had orders to take Kim and Barbara alive, so their guns were holstered, but they were big and muscular and used to intimidating women. When one of them found himself confronting Kim on a narrow stretch of catwalk, he favored her with a lecherous, gap-toothed grin as he advanced. Somewhat to his surprise, she advanced as well, a cold grin on her face as well. The thug never noticed the tiny pink form that scampered toward him ahead of his prey. Not, at least, until razor sharp teeth sank into the flesh of his lower leg.

A yelp of pain, from a male voice, interrupted the duel below. Slade, Batman, and everyone else looked up to see a large man come hurtling down to land on a pile of rubbish. He lay there, groaning, apparently out of the fight.

"One down, two to go," Batman jabbed.

Slade's face twitched at the taunt, but he didn't respond.

"Never strike out in anger, remember?" Slade replied. "You'll have to do better than that."

Frugal Lucre watched the fight with mixed feelings. Batman and Slade were nearly evenly matched. As such, this might take a while, especially since Slade seemed to want to prolong the affair. If it was up to Lucre, Batman would look like a sieve about now. Alas, Slade was insistent that Batman, Kim Possible, and her daughter be taken alive. Such was the word from on high. Lucre grinned humorlessly. Fortunately, he could do something about the current situation without violating the letter of Slade's orders.

"Put away your guns," he told his men, "and bum rush this 'Batman' character. We'll take him down with overwhelming force."

The henchmen moved to agree, perhaps sensing the truth of Lucre's strategy.

Before they had taken a handful of steps, a muffled voice scolded, "Two dozen against one? That hardly seems fair." Then, a hooded figure clad in ninja garb leapt into their midst and began wreaking havoc. Whoever he was, he moved like lightning. Armed with two short staves, each about three feet long, he tore into the thugs mercilessly.

Taking his cue from the newcomer, Batman broke away from Slade and engaged the balance of the henchmen, all the while evading his pursuing foe.

In no time at all, the henchmen were down, leaving Batman and his strange ally facing Slade and Lucre.

"I'm impressed, Ronald," Slade acknowledged with a slight bow. You and your mysterious friend put on quite a show. But," he added, noting that his adversaries were breathing hard from their exertions, "You lack my enhanced stamina. And of course, my comrade has a gun."

Lucre was blinking in confusion. Slade had clearly been addressing Batman when he used the name 'Ronald'. His thoughts whirled. We're in Middleton (sort of), Batman is allied with Kim Possible, and Slade called him 'Ronald'.

"Wait," Lucre said aloud. "Are you saying that Batman is Ron Stoppable?"

"Of course he isn't," the ninja retorted, reaching up and pulling off his hood. "I'm Ron Stoppable."

It was Slade's turn to be shocked. He stood, looking back and forth between the two as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Lucre continued to think. Slade was of this world, knew Batman well and was convinced Batman was the Ron Stoppable of his world. But if Batman was the Ron Stoppable of _this_ world, then the other Ron Stoppable _had_ to be...

The other Ron seemed to sense Lucre's thoughts, no surprise in retrospect, and favored him with a feral grin.

"Lex Luthor sends his regards...Francis."

Lucre shuddered.

"We have to get out of here," he said, his voice shaking.

Slade gave him a doubtful look. "Why?"

"Why?" Lucre replied. "Because if _he's_ here, that means _she's_ here."

Before Slade could utter a word, Lucre raised his gun, pointing it toward the catwalks above. One of the gun's many features was an infrared sight that gave him a clear view of Kim Possible and her kid. Aiming well away from them, Lucre selected the 'grenade' function of his weapon and fired at one of the brackets that held the stretch of catwalk Kim was on to the ceiling.

(-V-)

The catwalk shook violently as the grenade hit and exploded. Kim threw Barbara down and herself on top of her daughter as the explosive round went off and felt shrapnel strike her, though none of the pieces got through her suit.

"Let's go, now!" Lucre commanded, grabbing Slade's shoulder and dragging him along. Slade wasn't one to follow orders, especially from someone he considered an inferior, but something about Lucre's urgency compelled him to obey.

(-V-)

Batman and Ron looked up in horror as one end of the catwalk slowly broke away its supports. The other end was still securely anchored, and the two men could hear the groans and squeals of tearing metal. High above them, Kim, her eyes squeezed shut, held Barbara with one arm while she clung as tightly as she could to the catwalk with the other.

Then, the catwalk broke loose and began to fall, swinging down like a pendulum.

To Kim's amazement the catwalk stopped falling almost as soon as it started. She could still hear metal protesting, but opened her eyes. To her utter consternation, her counterpart was just a few feet away, looking right at her, the free end of the catwalk held in one hand. The other Kim's mission togs (or at least what Kim had assumed were her mission togs) were gone replaced by a tight, form fitting suit of blue and red that would have been embarrassingly revealing on anyone with a less perfect physique. Adding to Kim's bafflement was the fact that the other Kim's grapple gun was still at her hip. There didn't seem to be anything holding her up, and she was a good thirty feet above the floor.

More pops and squeals sounded, and the catwalk jerked. Kim looked back over her shoulder. The other end of the section was ripping loose as well. She returned her gaze to her counterpart.

"Give me your hand," the other Kim urged, holding out her free one. Kim complied, the two women locking grips.

"Have you got her?" Kim's double asked.

"Yes," Kim assured her.

With that, the other Kim let go of the catwalk. Barbara watched it fall away in wide-eyed amazement as the other Kim held them suspended in mid-air.

Some of Slade's and Lucre's thugs had regained their feet and, noting the absence of their bosses, snatched up their guns and began firing at the floating target.

(S)

Twisting to face the thugs, Kim stared at the floor in front of them. A triangle of rippling air appeared. The dusty concrete floor began to smoke. More importantly, the fusillade of bullets aimed at her human charges vanished in puffs of smoke as they entered the field of her heat vision.

Ron and Batman were already moving. In moments, the thugs were down, and Kim was lowering her counterpart and her daughter to the ground.

(-V-)

By the time they found where Slade and Lucre had run off to, the duo had gotten away. No small surprise there, since Lucre had recreated Lex Luthor's dimension bridging device. The still cooling machine gave mute testimony just how and where to the pair had fled.

"Well, it looks like our work here is done," the Ron of that other world said simply. "My Kim and I need to go back to our world and stop those two before they wreak an equal amount of havoc there."

"I understand," Batman agreed, "But I'm coming with you."

"Eh?" the other Ron wondered.

"Slade is mine," Batman clarified. "I know him better than anyone, and he's far more dangerous than you realize."

"I wasn't impressed," the other Ron replied.

Batman actually chuckled. "He wasn't giving his all here because he knew he had an open escape route," he said, nodding at the dimension bridge. "Corner him, and it'll be a different story." Batman paused and glanced at the other Kim. "Even with her super powers," he added.

The Kim of this world spoke up. "First, we drop Barbara off with Bonnie. If you're going to that other world, then so am I."

Batman started to argue, but Kim silenced him with a single raised finger. "I have a score to settle with those two for kidnapping my baby," she explained. "But before we do any of that..." Kim turned to her counterpart. "Just how in God's name can you do all those things?"


End file.
